REPORT 


ON   THE 


CHICAGO  STRIKE 


9 


OF 


JUNE-JULY,   1894. 


[THE  APPENDICES  REFERRED  TO  WITHIN  ARE  OMITTED 
FROM  THIS  EDITION.] 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1895. 


« 

I 


REPORT 


ON  THE 


CHICAGO   STEIKE 


JUNE-JULY,   1894, 


BY  THE 


UNITED.  STATES  STRIKE  COMMISSION, 

APPOINTED   BY   THE   PRESIDENT   JULY   26,    1894,    UNDER   THE 

PROVISIONS  OF  SECTION  6   OF   CHAPTER   1063   OF 

THE    LAWS   OF    THE    UNITED   STATES 

PASSED  OCTOBER  1,  1888, 


WITH 


APPENDICES  CONTAINING  TESTIMONY,  PROCEEDINGS,  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 

1895. 


( 


UNITED  STATES  STRIKE  COMMISSION. 


COMMISSIONERS. 

CARROLL  D.  WRIGHT,  Ex-officio  Chairman READING,  MASS. 

JOHN  D.  KERNAN UTICA,  N.  Y. 

NICHOLAS  E.  WORTHINGTON..... PEORIA,  ILL. 

CLERKS. 

EUGENE  B.HASTINGS UTICA,  N.  Y. 

WILLIAM  H.  RAND KEENE,  N.  H. 

STENOGRAPHERS. 

CHARLES  P.  WATSON PEORIA,ILL. 

CYRUS  L.  WATSON PEORIA.ILL. 

CHARLES  W.  MORRIS,  JR HARIUSBURG,  PA. 

U.  S.  DEPUTY  MARSHAL  (IN  ATTENDANCE). 

H.  BARTLETT  LINDLEY CHICAGO,  ILL. 

in 


CONTENTS. 


MESSAGE  op  THE  PRESIDENT 

LETTER  OK  TKANS.MITTAI XII 

INTRODUCTION XV-XVI1I 

>  AND  CRIMES XVIII,  XIX 

TROOPS,  MILITARY,  KTC XIX>  XX 

PULLMAN'S  PALACE  CAR  COMPANY XXI-XXII 

THK  AMEIUCAN  RAILWAY  UNION XXIII-XXVII1 

Tin:  GENERAL  MANAGERS' ASSOCIATION XXVIII-XXXI 

THE  PULLMAN  STRIKE:  ITS  CAUSES  AND  EVENTS XXXII-XXXIX 

Wages XXXII-XXXV 

Rents XXXV.XXXVI 

Shop  abuses XXXVI 

The  strike XXXVII-XXXIX 

RAILROAD  STRIKE XXXIX-XLVI 

Action  of  federated  tmions XL-XLII 

Action  of  tbe  General  Managers'  Association XLII,  XLIII 

Violence  and  destruction  of  property  and  military  proceedings.. .  XLIII-XLVI 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS XLVI-LI V 

APPENDIX  A.— TESTIMONY  AND  PROCEEDINGS 1-653 

Testimony  on  behalf  of  the  railway  employees 4-212 

Testimony  of  George  W.  Howard 4-58 

Testimony  of  James  R.  Sovereign 59-71 

Testimony  of  George  W.  Lovejoy 71-77 

Testimony  of  Sylvester  Keliher 78-94 

Testimony  of  B.  B.  Ray 94-101 

Testimony  of  R.  M.  Goodwin 101,102 

Testimony  of  H.  F.  Griswold 102,103 

Testimony  of  James  B.  Conuers • 104-108 

Testimony  of  Franklin  R.  Mills 108-110 

Testimony  of  Charles  Nay  lor 111-114 

Testimony  of  Frank  Wells 114, 115 

Testimony  of  Martin  3.  Elliott 115-117 

Testimony  of  Frank  T.  McDonald 117-126 

Testimony  of  Charles  B.  St.  Clair 126-128 

Testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs 129-180 

Testimony  of  P.  H.  Morrissy 180-185 

Testimony  of  Edgar  E.  Clark 185-187 

Testimony  of  Samuel  Gompers 188-205 

Testimony  of  John  T.  Norton i!06, 207 

Testimony  of  W.  F.  Gnyou 207-212 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway 

Company 212-324 

Testimony  of  Everett  St.  John 212-269 

Testimony  of  John  M.  Egan 269-282 

Testimony  of  Charles  Dunlap 282-285 

v 


VI  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX  A. — TESTIMONY  AND  PROCEEDINGS — Continued. 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Chicago,  Rock.  Island  and  Pacific  Railway 
Company— Concluded. 

Testimony  of  V.  W.  McKeo 285-288 

Testimony  of  S.  C.  Wadi- 288-295 

Testimony  of  William  Kit-hard  Mooney 295-309 

Trxtimony  of  II.  K.  Saiiutlcrs .  309-311 

Testimony  of  L.  A.  Camp 311 

Testimony  of  \V.  (!.  Fuller 312 

Testimony  of  G.  IX  Cruely 313-315 

Testimony  of  W.  J.  Krnse 315, 316 

Testimony  of  Frank  Couroy 310-318 

Testimony  of  D.  Braham 318 

Testimony  of  John  Digan 318 

Testimony  of  George  Furlong 318, 319 

Testimony  of  Owen  O'Keefe 319 

Testimony  of  Fred  Danmback 319 

Testimony  of  Joseph  Rippet 319 

Testimony  of  George  Davis 320 

Testimony  of  Otto  Morling 320 

Testimony  of  James  Simmons 320, 321 

Testimony  of  Alexander  Qnasso 321 

Testimony  of  Henry  Lnsson 321 

Testimony  of  J.  H.  Cady 322,323 

Testimony  of  John  Clancy 323 

Testimony  of  M.  Knbelsky 323 

Testimony  of  Charles  Keck 323.324 

Testimony  of  J.  C.  Klein 324 

Testimony  of  Paul  Clausen 324 

Testimony  of  John  Clausen 324 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company 325-338 

Testimony  of  Albert  W.  Sullivan 325-338 

General  testimony  relating  to  the  strike 339-408 

Testimony  of  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 339, 340 

Testimony  of  John  C.Donnelly 340-344 

Testimony  of  John  P.  Hopkins 344-353 

Testimony  of  Michael  Breuuau 353-360 

Testimony  of  Malcoiub  McDowell 360-368 

Testimony  of  Ray  Baker 368-370 

Testimony  of  Harold  I.  Cleveland 370-374 

Testimony  of  Victor  M.  Harding 374-380 

Testimony  of  William  H.  T.  Shade 380-383 

Testimony  of  W.C.Roberts 383,384 

Testimony  of  William  K.  McKay 384, 385 

Testimony  of  Nicholas  Hunt 385-389 

Testimony  of  John  E.  Fitzpatrivk 389, 390 

Testimony  of  John  Fitzgerald ; . . .  390-392 

Testimony  of  Joseph  L.  Kenyou 392-395 

Testimony  of  Benjamin  H.  Atwell 396-399 

Testimony  of  N.  D.  Hutton 399-402 

Testimony  of  Hubert  F.  Miller 402-408 

Testimony  of  witnesses  with  reference   to  railroad  losses  during  the 

strike,  called  by  the  commission  on  its  own  motion 408-416 

Testimony  of  Channcey  Kelsey ,  408. 409 

Testimony  of  William  McFadden 409,410 


CONTENTS.  VII 

APPENDIX  A. — TESTIMONY  AND  PROCEEDINGS — Concluded. 

Testimony  of  witnesses  with  reference  to  railroad  losses  during  the  strike, 

called  by  the  commission,  on  its  own  motion — Concluded.  Page. 

Testimony  of  E.  I'.  Bronghton 410,411 

Testimony  of  John  I).  Besler -111,412 

Testimony  of  William  O.  Johnson 112,413 

Testimony  of  J.  M.  Whitman 113,414 

Testimony  of  W.  X.  J>.  Winne 414,415 

Testimony  of  Arthur  G.  Wells 415 

Testimony  of  E.  St.  John 416 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  striking  employees  at  the  town  of  Pullman. ..  416-468 

Test  imony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate 416-433 

Testimony  of  Jennie  Curtis 433-435 

Testimony  of  Theodore  Ehodie 435-438 

Testimony  of  R.  W.  Coombs 438-441 

Testimony  of  Merritt  Brown 441-444 

Testimony  of  Rev.  William  H.  Carwardine 144-454 

Testimony  of  Mary  Alice  Wood 454-457 

Testimony  of  Arthur  M.  Wilson 457,458 

Testimony  of  Myrtle  Webb 458,459 

Testimony  of  MichaelJ  Carroll 459-462 

Testimony  of  Rev.  Morris  L.  Wickman 462-465 

Testimony  of  Andrew  W.  Pearson 466-168 

Testimony  on  the  part  of  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company 468-641 

Testimony  of  Frank  W.  T.  Glover 468-473 

Testimony  of  Paul  E.  Hearnes 473-476 

Testimony  of  L.H.Johnson 476-480 

Testimony  of  Axel  Lundgren 480-483 

Testimony  of  John. McLean 483-492 

Testimony  of  Isaiah  Campbell 492-495 

Testimony  of  Duaue  Doty 495-507 

Testimony  of  Charles  Corkery 507, 508 

Testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant 508-526 

Testimony  of  Charles  H.  Eaton 526-528 

Testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman 528-569 

Testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes 570-630 

Questions  submitted  by  Enoch  Harpole >. 630-633 

Testimony  of  Charles  E.  Webb 633 

Testimony  of  William  P.  Hoornbeek 633-636 

Testimony  of  James  L.  Walker 636-638 

Testimony  of  Henry  O.  Liudeblad 638-641 

Miscellaneous  testimony;   also  proceedings  at  adjourned  meeting  at 

Washington,  D.  C.,  September  26, 1894 '.  641-653 

Testimony  of  Edward  W.  Bemis 641-645 

Testimony  of  Jane  Addams 645-648 

Statements  of  A.  I.  Ambler 648-651 

Testimony  of  Gustav  Augerstein i 651-653 

APPENDIX  B.— RECOMMENDATIONS  TO  THE  COMMISSION 655-681 

Arbitration,  compulsory  or  otherwise 657-661 

Comments  and  general  suggestions 661-667 

Commission  to  l>e  created  by  1'nited  States  Statutes 667 

Defects  in  our  financial  system  a  source  of  present  depression 667, 668 

Divers  proposed  measures  of  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  labor 668-671 

Governmental  ownership  or  control  of  railroads 671-673 

Judicial  methods  of  various  kinds  suggested 671 


VIII  CONTEXTS. 

APPKXDIX  K. — RKCOMMUXDATIONS  TO  TIIK  COMMISSION — Concluded.  Page. 

To  license  railroad  employees 674,  675 

Matters  relating  solely  to  the  conditions  at  I'ullman 676 

Methods  of  prevention  of  labor  troubles,  not  statutory 676-678 

Kailroad  employees  to  be  pensioned 678 

Single-tax  theory ; 678,  679 

Views  of  non-union  employees  and  others  advocating  non-unionism 679,  680 

Wages,  statutory  regulation  of 680,681 

Communications  bearing  upon  the  relations  of  capital  to  labor 681 


MESSAGE 

FROM    THE 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


TRANSMITTING 


The  report  of  the  Strike.  Commission  on  the  Chicago  alrike  of  June-July, 

1894. 


DECEMBER  10,  1894 — Ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  and  be  printed. 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

1  transmit  herewith  the  report  on  the.  Chicago  strike  of  June-July, 
1894,  forwarded  to  me  by  the  Strike  Commission  appointed  July  2(5, 
1894,  under  the  provisions  of  section  6  of  chapter  1003  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  passed  October  1, 1888. 

The  testimony  taken  by  the  commission  and  the  suggestions  and 
recommendations  made  to  it  accompany  the  report  in  the  form  of 

appendices. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

December  10,  1894. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSM1TTAL 


UNITED  STATES  STRIKE  COMMISSION, 

Washington,  J).  €.,  November  14,  1894. 

SiE:  We  have  the  honor  to  hand  you  herewith  our  report  upon  the 
controversies  which  arose  between  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany and  the  Chicago,  Hock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  and 
certain  of  their  employees  in  June  last.  This  report  is  made  in  accord- 
ance with  your  directions  of  the  26th  of  July  and  under  the  provisions 
of  section  6  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed 
October  1, 1888. 

The  appropriation  applicable  to  the  investigation  which  we  have 
conducted  was  $5,000,  a  sum  which  has  proved  amply  sufficient  for  all 
the  expenses  of  the  commission. 

In  addition  to  our  report  covering  our  consideration,  conclusions, 
and  recommendations,  we  hand  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  testimony 
taken  at  the  hearings  conducted  by  the  commission,  a  digest  of  the 
suggestions  made  in  writing  to  the  commission,  and  various  other 
matters  which  have  been  submitted  to  it,  all  bearing  upon  the  difficul- 
ties and  controversies  considered.  These  matters  are  in  the  form  of 
appendices. 

We  are,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

CARROLL  IX  WRIGHT. 
JOHN  D.  KERNAN. 
NICHOLAS  E.  WORTHINGTON. 
The  PRESIDENT. 


XIII 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


Upon  tlie  2(>th  of  July,  1894,  the  President  of  the  Uuited  States 
issued  the  following,  viz: 

GROVER  CLEVELAND, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  greeting: 

Know  ye,  that  whereas  controversies  have  arisen  between  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company,  and  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and 
I'acilir,  Railway  Company,  two  corporations  engaged  iu  the  transporta- 
tion of  property  and  passengers  between  two  or  more  States  of  the 
1  nited  States,  and  certain  of  their  employees,  which  controversies  may 
hinder,  impede,  obstruct,  interrupt  or  aft'ect  such  transportation  of 
passengers  or  property; 

And,  whereas  the  premises  and  the  representations  on  behalf  of  said 
employees  being  considered,  the  conditions  in  my  opinion  justify  and 
require  the  creation  of  a  temporary  commission  to  examine  the  causes 
of  said  controversies,  the  conditions  accompanying  the  same  and  the 
best  means  of  their  adjustment,  as  authorized  by  section  (5  of  chapter 
1(K>3  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed  on  the  first  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1888: 

Now,  therefore,  by  authority  of  the  statute  aforesaid,  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  Commissioner  of  Labor  of  the  United  States,  who  is  desig- 
nated in  said  statute,  and  John  D.  Kernan,  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  Nicholas  E.  Worthiugton,  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  hereby  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  commissioners  under  said  act, 
shall  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  said  act,  constitute  a  temporary 
commission  for  the  purposes  therein  specified. 

The  said  commission  is  hereby  directed  to  visit  the  State  of  Illinois 
and  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  such  other  places  in  the  United  States  as 
may  appear  proper  in  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  to  the  end 
that  it  may  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  any  pending  dis- 
pute or  existing  controversies  and  hear  all  persons  interested  therein 
who  may  come  before  it;  and  said  commission  shall  exercise  all  the 
powers,  perform  all  the  duties  and  be  subject  to  all  the  obligations 
conferred  and  enjoined  by  the  statute  aforesaid  upon  temporary  com- 
missions created  pursuant  to  its  provisions. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  subscribed  my  name  hereto  and  caused  the 

seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  hereunto  affixed  this  twenty- 

,  1   8*xtu  day  °f  July  i"  the  year  of  our  Lord  OTIC  thousand  eight 

''   hundred  and  ninety-four,  and  of  the   Independence  of  the 

Uuited  States  of  America  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 

By  the  President : 

W.  Q.  (llJKSIIAM. 

of  State. 

XV 


XVI  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

Section  0  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  passed 
October  1,  1888,  reads  as  follows: 

That  the  President  may  select  two  commissioners,  one  of  whom  at 
least  shall  be  a  resident  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which  the  contro- 
versy arises,  who,  together  with  the  Commissioner  of  Labor,  shall 
constitute  a  temporary  commission  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
causes  of  the  controversy,  the  conditions  accompanying,  and  the  best 
means  for  adjusting  it;  the  result  of  which  examination  shall  be  imme- 
diately reported  to  the  President  and  Congress,  and  on  the  rendering  of 
such  report  the  services  of  the  two  commissioners  shall  cease. 

"The  controversy"  referred  to  is  defined  in  section  1  of  said  chapter 
10G3  as  follows: 

Whenever  differences  or  controversies  arise  between  railroad  or  other 
transportation  companies  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  property  or 
passengers  between  two  or  more  States  of  the  United  States,  between 
a  Territory  and  State,  within  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  or 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  employees  of  said  railroad 
companies,  which  differences  or  controversies  may  hinder,  impede, 
obstruct,  interrupt,  or  affect  such  transportation  of  property  or  passen- 
gers. 

At  its  first  meeting  in  the  city  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  held  on  the  31st 
day  of  July,  1894,  the  commission  adopted  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions: 

Whereas  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  appointed  the  under- 
signed a  commission  to  visit  Chicago,  111.,  and  such  other  places  in  the 
United  States  as  may  be  proper,  in  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  to 
the  end  that  it  may  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  any  pending 
dispute  or  existing  controversies  between  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
Company  and  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway  Company 
and  certain  of  their  employees,  and  to  hear  all  persons  interested  therein 
who  may  come  before  it;  and 

Whereas  section  6  of  chapter  1063  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
passed  October  1,  1888,  makes  it  the  duty  of  said  commission  to  exam- 
ine the  causes  of  said  controversies,  the  conditions  accompanying  and 
the  best  means  of  adjusting  the  same,  and  to  report  the  results  of  such 
examination  to  the  President  and  to  Congress;  and 

Whereas  the  questions  involved  in  such  controversies  affect  all 
interstate  railroads  and  their  employees;  and 

Whereas  it  is  desirable  that  the  report  of  this  commission  and 
future  legislation,  if  any,  upon  the  questions  at  issue  between  labor, 
whether  organized  or  unorganized,  and  employers  thereof,  should  be 
based  upon  all  facts  having  any  legitimate  bearing  upon  such  ques- 
tions, and  should  be  the  result  only  of  clear  and  well-defined  public 
opinion :  Therefore, 

Resolved  (I)  That  this  commission  will  meet  at  the  United  States 
post-office  building  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  111.,  on  the  15th  day  of 
August,  1894,  at  10  a.  m.,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  testimony  in  rela- 
tion to  said  controversies,  and  to  hear  and  consider  all  facts,  sugges- 
tions, and  arguments  as  to  the  causes  thereof,  the  conditions  accompa- 
nying, and  the  best  means  of  adjusting  the  same,  and  as  to  any  legis- 
lation or  measures  which  ought  to  be  recommended  in  regard  to  similar 
controversies  hereafter. 

(2)  That  all  railroads,  labor  organizations,  and  citizens  having  either 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XVII 

a  personal  or  patriotic  interest  in  the  right  solution  of  these  questions, 
and  who  can  not  conveniently  attend  such  public  hearing  as  aforesaid, 
are  requested  to  present  their  views  and  suggestions  in  writing  to  the 
commission  at  any  time  prior  to  the  date  of  such  public  hearing. 

(3)  That  copies  of  this  resolution  be  given  to  the  press  and  be  sent 
t<>  all  railroads  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  property  and  passen- 
gers between  two  or  more  States  of  the  United  States  and  to  all  labor 
organizations. 

(4)  That  all  communications  be  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the 
United  States  Strike  Commission,  Washington,  D.  C. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  resolution  the  commission  met  at  the 
United  States  district  court  room  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  111.,  on  the 
loth  day  of  August,  1894,  when  the  chairman  made  the  following 
announcement: 

By  the  act  recited  in  the  commission  of  the  President  that  has  just 
been  read,  this  commission  is  directed  to  examine  the  causes,  contro- 
versies, and  difficulties  existing  between  the  roads  named  and  their 
employees  at  the  time  the  commission  of  the  President  was  issued.  The 
board  is  constituted  as  a  temporary  commission  for  this  purpose,  and 
not  fqr  the  purpose  of  arbitrating  the  difficulties  that  existed.  It  is 
practically  a  court  of  inquiry,  and  its  proceedings  will  be  in  accordance 
witli  the  usages  of  such  courts.  It  will  proceed  to  hear,  first,  all  the 
witnesses  on  behalf  of  the  employees,  and,  afterward,  those  on  behalf  of 
the  corporations  named  in  the  commission,  and  all  such  witnesses  are 
requested  to  hand  their  names  to  the  clerk  of  the  commission.  Under 
the  law  parties  may  appear  in  person  or  by  counsel,  as  they  may  see 
fit,  and  examine  and  cross-examine  witnesses. 

After  all  the  witnesses  have  given  their  testimony  the  commission 
will  then  consider  arguments  and  suggestions  to  be  made  bearing  upon, 
the  questions  before  it.  All  such  suggestions  and  arguments  presented 
in  writing  will  be  filed  and  considered  by  the  commission;  but  the 
question  as  to  how  far  the  commission  will  hear  parties  who  desire  to 
be  heard  orally  will  depend  upon  the  time  left  at  the  disposal  of  the 
commission,  and  will  be  determined  after  the  testimony  is  concluded. 
This  commission,  by  the  act  creating  it,  possesses  all  the  powers  and 
authority  which  are  possessed  by  and  belong  to  United  States  commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States.  The 
hours  of  sitting  of  the  commission  will  be  from  10  a.  m.  to  12.30  p.  m. 
and  from  1.30  p.  m.  to  4  p.  in.  Parties  and  their  counsel  and  witnesses 
attending  will  find  seats  within  the  rail.  The  commission  is  now  ready 
to  proceed  to  business,  and  the  marshal  will  preserve  order,  limiting 
the  attendance  to  the  comfortable  capacity  of  the  room.  The  clerk 
will  now  call  the  first  witness. 

During  the  session  of  thirteen  days  at  Chicago  the  commission  exam- 
ined 107  witnesses,  who  were  either  presented  by  the  parties  or  cited  to 
appear.  At  an  adjourned  session,  held  in  Washington,  September  26, 
2  witnesses  appeared,  making  a  total  of  109. 

At  the  first  hearing  it  developed  that  the  Pullman  employees  very 
generally  became  members  of  the  American  Eailway  Union  in  March 
and  April,  1894,  and  that  the  19  local  unions  which  they  had  formed 
had  declared* a  strike  at  Pullman;  also  that  the  railroad  companies 
named  in  the  President's  commission  were  members  of  the  General 
Managers'  Association. 
S.  Ex.  7 u 


XVIII  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

The  contest  was  chiefly  between  these  two  organizations,  and  hence 
nothing  relating  to  the  strike  at  Pullman  or  Chicago  that  affected 
members  of  either  organization  could  be  excluded  as  not  germane  to 
the  subject  under  investigation.  As  a  matter  of  discretion,  the  com- 
mission believed  it  wise  to  permit  the  broadest  latitude  of  inquiry, 
inasmuch  as  the  directions  to  the  commission  were  "  to  examine  the 
causes  of  and  the  conditions  accompanying  the  controversies." 

LOSSES  AND  CRIMES. 

According  to  the  testimony  the  railroads  lost  in  property  destroyed, 
hire  of  United  States  deputy  marshals,  and  other  incidental  expenses, 
at  least  $685,308.  The  loss  of  earnings  of  these  roads  is  estimated  at 
$4,672,916.  (a)  Some  3,100  employees  at  Pullman  lost  in  wages,  as  esti- 
mated, at  least  $350,000.  (b)  About  100,000  employees  upon  the  24  rail- 
roads centering  at  Chicago,  all  of  which  were  more  or  less  involved  in 
the  strike,  lost  in  wages,  as  estimated,  at  least  $1,389,143.  (a)  Many  of 
these  employees  are  still  adrift  and  losing  wages. 

Beyond  these  amounts  very  great  losses,  widely  distributed,  were 
incidentally  suffered  throughout  the  country.  The  suspension  of  trans- 
portation at  Chicago  paralyzed  a  vast  distributive  center,  and  imposed 
many  hardships  and  much  loss  upon  the  great  number  of  people 
whose  manufacturing  and  business  operations,  employment,  travel,  and 
necessary  supplies  depend  upon  and  demand  regular  transportation 
service  to,  from,  and  through  Chicago. 

During  the  strike  the  fatalities,  arrests,  indictments,  and  dismissals 
of  charges  for  strike  offenses  in  Chicago  and  vicinity  were  as  follows  (</•) : 

Number  shot  and  fatally  wounded 12 

Number  arrested  by  the  police 515 

Number  arrested  under  United  States  statutes  and  against  whom  indictments 

were  found 71 

Number  arrested  against  whom  indictments  were  not  found 119 

The  arrests  made  by  the  police  were  for  murder,  arson,  burglary, 
assault,  intimidation,  riot,  inciting  to  riot,  and  lesser  crimes.  The  cases 
passed  upon  by  the  special  United  States  grand  jury,  which  convened 
on  July  10, 1S94,  related  to  obstruction  of  the  mail,  forbidden  by  sec- 
tion 3995  of  the  United  States  Revised  Statutes ;  conspiracy  to  commit 
offenses  against  the  United  States,  forbidden  by  section  5440  of  the 
Eevised  Statutes ;  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among 
the  several  States,  forbidden  by  chapter  647  of  the  United  States,  laws 

a  Made  up  from  evidence  of  and  statements  furnished  by  the  twenty-four  com- 
panies comprising  the  General  Managers'  Association. 

b  As  to  number  of  employees,  see  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  586;  aa 
to  loss  of -wages,  see  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  348. 

c  Made  up  from  testimony  of  Superintendent  of  Police  Brennan  and  further  data 
gathered  from  the  police  and  court  records  by  the  United  States  deputy  marshal  in 
attendance  upon  the  commission. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XIX 

of  1890;  conspiracy  to  injure,  oppress,  threaten,  or  intimidate  citizens 
in  the  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  privileges  under 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  forbidden  by  section 
,V>os  of  the  United  States  Revised  Statutes. 

Several  indictments  were  found  against  Eugene  V.  Debs,  George  W. 
Howard,  L.  W.  Rogers,  and  Sylvester  Keliher,  officers  of  the  American 
Railway  Union,  under  these  different  statutes.  Neither  indictments 
nor  proceedings  were  had  under  the  act  to  regulate  commerce,  approved 
February  4, 1887,  as  has  been  sometimes  stated. 

These  great  losses  and  many  crimes ;  the  vast  numbers,  strength,  and 
resources  of  the  labor  that  contended  under  the  leadership  of  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Union  upon  the  one  side  and  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Com- 
pany and  the  General  Managers'  Association  upon  the  other;  the 
attitude  of  labor  toward  capital,  disclosed  in  its  readiness  to  strike 
sympathetically;  the  determination  of  capital  to  crush  the  strike 
rather  than  to  accept  any  peaceable  solution  through  conciliation,  arbi- 
tral ion,  or  otherwise;  (a)  the  certainty  with  which  vast  strikes  let  loose 
the  disreputable  to  burn,  plunder,  and  even  murder;  the  conversion 
of  industrious  and  law-abiding  men  into  idlers,  lawbreakers,  or  associ- 
ates of  criminals;  the  want  brought  to  many  innocent  families;  the 
transformation  of  railroad  yards,  tracks,  and  stations,  as  well  as  the 
busy  marts  of  trade,  into  armed  camps;  the  possibilities  of  future 
strikes  on  more  extended  lines  of  union  against  even  greater  combina- 
tions of  capital — are  all  factors  bearing  npon  the  present  industrial 
situation  which  need  to  be  thoroughly  understood  by  the  people  and  to 
be  wisely  and  prudently  treated  by  the  government. 

TROOPS,  MILITARY,  ETC  (b). 

For  the  protection  of  city,  state,  and  federal  property,  for  the  sup- 
pression of  crime  and  the  preservation  of  order,  the  city,  county,  State, 
and  federal  forces  were  utilized  a^  shown  in  the  following  statement: 

From  .July  3  to  July  10  the  number  of  United  States  troops  sent  to  and  used 
in  Chicago  to  protect  the  United  States  mail  service  and  federal  buildings, 
and  to  sustain  the  execution  of  the  orders  of  the  United  States  courts  was.     1,  936 
Between  July  6  and  July  11  the  State  militia  was  ordered  on  duty  at  Chicago 

and  remained  so  long  as  needed,  to  the  number  of  about 4,  000 

Extra  deputy  marshals,  about 5, 000 

Extra  deputy  sheritl's 250 

Police  force  of  Chicago 3,  000 

Total 14,186 


a  See  testimony  of  John  M.  Egan,  questions  15  to  80;  also  see  resolutions  of  Gen- 
eral Managers'  Association,  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  question  290. 

b  As  to  United  States  troops,  see  testimony  of  Mayor  Hopkins,  question  13,  subse- 
quently verified  at  number  given;  as  to  State  militia,  see  testimony  of  Mayor  Hop- 
kins; as  to  deputy  marshals,  see  testimony  of  Deputy  Marshal  Donnelly,  question  4 ; 
as  to  police  force,  see  statement  furnished  to  John  M.  Egau,  attached  to  testimony 
of  Superintendent  of  Police  Hrennan,  page  358. 


XX  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Section  4  of  Article  IV  of  the  federal  constitution  reads  as  follows: 

The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  state  in  this  Union  a 
republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against 
invasion;  and  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  executive 
(when  the  legislature  can  not  be  convened),  against  domestic  violence. 

United  States  troops  were  not  sent  into  Illinois  upon  the  application 
of  the  legislature,  nor  of  the  executive,  against  domestic  violence;  i.  e., 
violence  affecting  the  State  and  its  government  as  such.  The  Presi- 
dent ordered  the  troops  to  Chicago — 

(1)  To  protect  federal  property. 

(2)  To  prevent  obstruction  in  the  carrying  of  the  mails. 

(3)  To  prevent  interference  with  the  interstate  commerce;  and 

(4)  To  enforce  the  decrees  and  mandates  of  the  federal  courts. 

He  did  this  under  the  authority  of  section  5298  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  United  States,  which  provides : 

Whenever,  by  reason  of  unlawful  obstructions,  combinations,  or 
assemblages  of  persons,  or  rebellion  against  the  authority  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  it  shall  become  impracticable,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  President,  to  enforce,  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial 
proceedings,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  within  any  State  or  Terri- 
tory, it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  to  call  forth  the  militia  of  any 
or  all  of  the  States,  and  to  employ  such  parts  of  the  land  or  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States  as  he  may  deem  necessary  to  enforce  the 
faithful  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  to  suppress  such 
rebellion,  in  whatever  State  or  Territory  thereof  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  may  be  forcibly  opposed,  or  the  execution  thereof  forcibly 
obstructed. 

And  of  section  5299,  which  provides : 

Whenever  insurrection,  domestic  violence,  unlawful  combinations,  or 
conspiracies  in  any  State  so  obstructs  or  hinders  the  execution  of  the 
laws  thereof,  and  of  the  United  States,  as  to  deprive  any  portion  or 
class  of  the  people  of  such  State  of  any  of  the  rights,  privileges,  or 
immunities,  or  protection,  named  in  the  constitution  and  secured  by 
the  laws  for  the  protection  of  such  rights,  privileges,  or  immunities, 
and  the  constituted  authorities  of  such  State  are  unable  to  protect,  or, 
from  any  cause,  fail  in  or  refuse  protection  of  the  people  in  such  rights, 
such  facts  shall  be  deemed  a  denial  by  such  State  of  the  equal  protection 
of  the  laws  to  which  they  are  entitled  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States;  and  in  all  such  cases,  or  whenever  any  such  insur- 
rection, violence,  unlawful  combination,  or  conspiracy,  opposes  or 
obstructs  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  the  due  execution  thereof, 
or  impedes  or  obstructs  the  due  course  of  justice  under  the  same,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  President,  and  it  shall  be  his  duty,  to  take 
such  measures,  by  the  employment  of  the  militia  or  the  land  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  or  of  either,  or  by  other  means,  as  he  may 
deem  necessary,  for  the  suppression  of  such  insurrection,  domestic  vio- 
lence, or  combinations. 

Other  statutes  tend  to  confer  authority  in  the  same  direction. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXI 

PULLMAN'S  PALACE  CAR  COMPANY. 

This  is  a  corporation  organized  in  1867,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000. 
It  lias  grown  until  its  present  paid-up  capital  is  $30,000,000.  Its  pros- 
perity has  enabled  the  company  for  over  twenty  years  to  pay  2  per  cent 
quarterly  dividends,  and,  in  addition,  to  lay  up  a  surplus  of  nearly 
$25,000,000  of  undivided  profits.  From  1867  to  1871  dividends  ranging 
from  9£  to  12  per  cent  per  annum  wore  paid.  For  the  year  ending  July 
31,  1893,  the  dividends  were  $2,520,000,  and  the  wages  $7,223,719.51. 
For  the  year  ending  July  31,  1894,  the  dividends  were  $2,880,000,  and 
the  wages  $4,471,701.39.(«) 

The  business  of  the  company  is — 

(1)  The  operation  of  its  cars  upon  about  125,000  miles  of  railroad, 
bring  about  three-fourths  of  the  railway  mileage  of  the  country,  under 
contracts  similar  to  that  in  evideuce.(ft) 

(2)  The  manufacture  and  repair  of  such  cars. 

(3)  The  manufacture  of  cars  of  all  kinds  for  the  general  market. 

(4)  The  care  and  management,  as  owner  and  landlord,  of  the  town 
of  Pullman. 

In  1880  the  company  bought  500  acres  of  land,  and  upon  300  acres 
of  it  built  its  plant  and  also  a  hotel,  arcade,  churches,  athletic  grounds, 
and  brick  tenements  suitable  for  the  use  of  its  employees.  The  town 
is  well  laid  out  and  has  a  complete  sewerage  and  water  system.  It  is 
beautified  by  well-kept  open  spaces  and  stretches,  flower  beds,  and 
lakes.  The  whole  is  at  all  times  kept  in  neat  order  by  the  company. 
The  main  object  was  the  establishment  of  a  great  manufacturing  busi- 
ness upon  a  substantial  and  money-making  basis.  Efficient  workmen 
were  regarded  as  essential  to  its  success,  and  it  was  believed  that  they 
could  be  secured,  held  in  contentment,  and  improved  as  such  for  their 
own  sakes  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  company  by  the  accommodations 
and  surroundings  that  were  provided. 

The  principal  church  and  its  parsonage  are  very  attractive  structures, 
but  often  are  not  occupied  because  the  rental  required  to  be  paid  is 
higher  than  any  church  society  is  willing  to  pay  to  obtain  the  gospel 
privileges  to  be  thereby  secured.(c)  In  the  arcade  is  a  tasteful  library  of 
books,  carefully  selected  and  cared  for  by  the  company.  Three  dollars 
per  year  is  charged  for  its  use,  and  as  many  as  250  persons  a  year  out 
of  from  4,000  to  5,000  employees  and  residents  have  at  times,  as  stated 
by  the  capable  librarian  in  charge,  availed  themselves  of  its  opportuni- 
ties. It  is  possible  that  the  air  of  business  strictly  maintained  there, 
as  elsewhere,  and  their  exclusion  from  any  part  in  its  management 

a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  4,  5,  32  to  34  inclusive,  135  to 
138  inclusive,  and  216;  as  to  wages  paid,  see  "memorandum  of  pay  rolls"  in  testimony 
of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  148. 

b  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  571. 

c  See  testimony  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Carwardine,  question  54. 


XXII 


CHICAGO   STRIKE. 


prevent  more  universal  and  grateful  acceptance  of  its  advantages  by 
employees.  Men,  as  a  rule,  even  when  employees,  prefer  independence 
to  paternalism  in  such  matters. 

The  company  provides  and  pays  a  physician  and  surgeon  by  the  year 
to  furnish  to  injured  employees  necessary  treatment  and  drugs.  It  is, 
however,  also  a  part  of  his  employment  to  secure  from  the  injured  party 
a  written  statement  as  to  the  causes  of  injury,  and  it  is  his  custom 
to  urge  the  acceptance  of  any  offered  settlement.  If  suit  follows,  the 
doctor  is  usually  a  witness  for  the  company.(a)  We  have  no  evidence 
that  the  doctor  has  ever  abused  his  confidential  relation  toward  the 
injured  employees;  but  the  system  is  admirably  conceived  from  a  busi- 
ness standpoint  to  secure  speedy  settlement  of  claims  for  damages  upon 
terms  offered  by  the  company  and  to  protect  the  company  from  litiga- 
tion and  its  results. 

Prior  to  June,  1893,  all  went  well  and  as  designed;  the  corporation 
was  very  prosperous,  paid  ample  and  satisfactory  wages,  as  a  rule,  and 
charged  rents  which  caused  no  complaint.  During  this  period  those 
defects  in  the  system  which  have  recently  come  to  the  surface  and 
intensified  differences,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  refusal  to  permit  the 
employees  to  buy  land  in  Pullman  and  build  homes  there,  caused  no 
disturbance. 

From  the  evidence  presented  by  the  Pullman  Loan  and  Savings 
Bank,  it  appears  that  prior  to  July  1,  1893,  the  wages  paid  enabled 
prudent  employees  to  lay  by  considerable  savings.  Upon  these  the 
bank  has  paid,  uniformly  and  without  any  recent  reduction,  4  per  cent 
per  annum.  The  statement  of  the  bank  is  as  follows : 

DEPOSITS  IN  PULLMAN  LOAN  AND  SAVINGS  BANK. 


Date. 

Employees 
depositing. 

Percent- 
ace  of  em- 
ployees of 
all  depos- 
itors. 

Total. 

Average 
amount  of 
deposit. 

July  1  1893 

2  425 

881 

$582  380  39 

$940  16 

May  1  1894 

1  679 

86* 

422  834  34 

251  84 

June  1  1894  

1  539 

82* 

383  590  09 

249  25 

July  1,1894  

1,414 

80 

364  454  59 

257  75 

August  1,  1894  

1,212 

85 

303  087  89 

250  07 

About  one-half  of  the  accounts  are  under  $100  and  five-sixths  under 
$500.  These  figures  illustrate  how  seriously  the  cutting  down  of  wages 
and  the  strike  ate  into  savings. 

As  the  result  of  the  Pullman  system  and  its  growth,  when  the  depres- 
sion of  1893  came,  morally  calling  for  mutual  concessions  as  to  wages, 
rents,  etc.,  we  find  on  the  one  side  a  very  wealthy  and  unyielding  corpo- 


a  See  testimony  of  Dr.  John  McLean,  generally ;  but  more  especially  from  question 
59  to  the  end. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXIII 

• 

ration,  and  upon  the  other  a  multitude  of  employees  of  comparatively 
excellent  charact  or  and  skill,  but  without  local  attachments  or  any  inter- 
ested responsibility  in  the  town,  its  business,  tenements,  or  surroundings. 
The  conditions  created  at  Pullman  enable  the  management  at  all 
times  to  assert  with  great  vigor  its  assumed  right  to  fix  wages  and  rents  (a) 
absolutely,  and  to  repress  that  sort  of  independence  which  leads  to  labor 
organizations  and  their  attempts  at  mediation,  arbitration,  strikes,  etc. 

THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION. 

This  is  an  association  of  about  150,000  railroad  employees,  as  alleged, 
organized  at  Chicago  on  the  20th  of  June,  1893,  for  the  purpose  of 
including  railway  employees  born  of  white  parents  in  one  great  brother- 
hood. 

The  theory  underlying  this  movement  is  that  the  organization  of  dif- 
ferent classes  of  railroad  employees  (to  the  number  of  about  140,000) 
upon  the  trade-union  idea  has  ceased  to  be  useful  or  adequate;  that 
pride  of  organization,  petty  jealousies,  and  the  conflict  of  views  into 
which  men  are  trained  in  separate  organizations  under  different  lead- 
ers, tend  to  defeat  the  common  object  of  all,  and  enable  railroads  to  use 
such  organizations  against  each  other  in  contentions  over  wages,  etc.; 
that  the  rapid  concentration  of  railroad  capital  and  management 
demands  a  like  union  of  their  employees  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  pro- 
tection; that  the  interests  of  each  of  the  850,000  (b)  and  over  railroad 
employees  of  the  United  States  as  to  wages,  treatment,  hours  of  labor, 
legislation,  insurance,  mutual  aid.  etc.,  are  common  to  all,  and  hence  all 
ought  to  belong  to  one  organization  that  shall  assert  its  united  strength 
in  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  every  member. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor,  composed  of  affiliated  unions, 
with  a  membership  of  over  500,000,  also  tends  in  the  direction  of 
broader  union  for  labor.  The  order  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  with  an 
estimated  membership  of  from  150,000  to  175,000,  has  always  advocated 
the  solidarity  of  labor. 

In  the  American  Railway  Union  there  are  departments  of  literature 
and  education,  legislation,  cooperation,  mediation,  insurance,  etc.  The 
organization  consists  of  a  general  union  and  of  local  unions.  The  gen- 
eral union  is  formed  by  representatives  of  local  unions,  who  elect  a 
board  of  nine  directors  quadrennially.  This  board  has  authority  to 
"  issue  such  orders  and  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  required  to 
carry  out  the  objects  of  the  order."  Any  ten  white  persons  employed 
in  railway  service,  except  superintendents,  etc.,  can  organize  a  local 

a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes  quoted  on  pages  xxv  and  xxvi;  also,  near 
close  of  his  testimony,  as  to  rentals ;  see  also  pamphlet  of  George  M.  Pullman  intro- 
duced in  evidence  by  lir.  Wickes. 

6  These  figures  were  obtained  from  the  last  statistical  report  of  the  United  States 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Witness  George  W.  Howard  fixes  figures  at 
upwards  of  1,000,000,  but  he  includes  other  territory  than  the  United  States. 


XXIV  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

union.    Each  local  union  has  its  board  of  mediation,  and  the  chairmen 
of  the  various  local  boards  upon  a  system  of  railroads  constitute  a 
general  board  of  mediation  for  that  system. 
The  constitution  provides  that — 

All  complaints  and  adjustments  must  be  first  taken  up  by  the  local 
union;  if  accepted  by  a  majority  vote, it  shall  be  referred  to  the  local 
board  of  mediation  for  adjustment,  and,  if  failing,  the  case  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  chairman  of  the  general  board  of  mediation,  failing 
in  which,  they  shall  notify  the  president  of  the  general  union,  who  shall 
authorize  the  most  available  member  of  the  beard  of  directors  to  visit 
and  meet  with  the  general  chairman  of  the  board  of  mediation  and 
issue  such  instructions  as  will  be  promulgated  by  the  directors. 

Under  these  provisions  it  is  claimed  that  no  strike  can  be  declared 
except  by  order  of  a  majority  of  the  men  involved.  This  is  a  com- 
mendable feature  of  the  union.  So  long  as  strikes  are  resorted  to,  the 
power  to  order  them  should  never  be  vested  anywhere  except  in  a 
majority  of  the  employees  concerned.  If  a  two-thirds  or  three-quarters 
vote  were  required  it  would  be  still  better.  After  a  strike  is  ordered 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  general  union  practically  directs  its  con- 
duct. 

In  its  profession  of  principles  and  purposes  in  its  general  and  local 
constitutions  the  American  Railway  Union  proposes  to  protect  and 
promote  the  interests  of  its  members  as  wage  earners  through  organi- 
zation and  legitimate  cooperation.  Its  constitution  reads: 

First.  The  protection  of  all  members  in  all  matters  relating  to  wages 
and  their  rights  as  employees  is  the  principal  purpose  of  the  organiza- 
tion. Railway  employees  are  entitled  to  a  voice  in  fixing  wages  and  in 
determining  conditions  of  employment.  Fair  wages  and  proper  treat- 
ment must  be  the  return  for  efficient  service,  faithfully  performed. 
Such  a  policy  insures  harmonious  relations  and  satisfactory  results. 
The  order,  while  pledged  to  conservative  methods,  will  protect  the 
humblest  of  its  members  in  every  right  he  can  justly  claim;  but  while 
the  rights  of  members  will  be  sacredly  guarded,  no  intemperate  demand 
or  unreasonable  propositions  will  be  entertained.  Corporations  will 
not  be  permitted  to  treat  the  organization  better  than  the  organization 
will  treat  them.  A  high  sense  of  honor  must  be  the  animating  spirit, 
and  evenhanded  justice  the  end  sought  to  be  obtained.  Thoroughly 
organized  in  every  department,  with  a  due  regard  for  the  right  wherever 
found,  it  is  confidently  believed  that  all  differences  may  be  satisfac- 
torily adjusted,  that  harmonious  relations  may  be  established  and  main- 
tained, that  the  service  may  be  incalculably  improved,  and  that  the 
necessity  for  strike  and  lockout,  boycott  and  blacklist,  alike  disastrous 
to  employer  and  employee  and  a  perpetual  menace  to  the  welfare  of  the 
public,  will  forever  disappear. 

It  is  encouraging  to  find  that  public  opinion  and  a  regard  for  their 
own  best  interests  now  demand  from  labor  organizations  such  a  plain 
recognition  of  conservative  principles  as  the  foregoing.  The  great 
inherent  weakness  of  such  organizations  at  present  is  that  in  conten- 
tions with  employers  these  principles  are  forgotten  and  that  strikes  are 
often  ordered  in  hasty  and  disorderly  ways,  and  are  frequently  con- 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XXV 

ducted  with  attendant  violence  and  lawlessness.  As  an  instance,  it 
appears  from  the  evidence  that  the  strike  on  the  Rock  Island  road  was 
ordered  at  a  meeting  at  Blue  Island,  attended  by  both  railroad  employees 
and  by  persons  not  in  the  employ  of  the  road,  and  that  a  rising  vote 
was  taken  without  confining  it  to  employees,  and  that  amidst  confusion 
and  uncertainty  as  to  what  the  vote  was  or  who  the  voters  were,  a 
strike  upon  a  great  railroad  system  was  inaugurated. 

A  recognition  of  the  principle  that  under  this  Government  wrongs 
must  be  corrected,  in  lawful  and  orderly  ways  is  absolutely  indispen- 
sable ;  a  practical  denial  of  this  principle  in  the  conflicts  incident  to 
strikes  would  be  fatal  to  both  business  and  society  and  is  unendurable 
under  any  government.  Wage  earners  can  not  deny  that  this  would 
be  equally  true  were  this  Government  one  entirely  "of  labor,  by  labor, 
and  for  labor." 

The  omission  of  a  direct  provision  in  the  constitution  of  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union  for  the  punishment  or  disqualification  of  a  member 
whocommits  or  instigates  violence  toward  persons  or  property  in  strikes 
is  a  usual  and  a  grievous  omission,  and  deserves  severe  condemnation. 
Until  labor  organizations  take  hold  of  this  question  vigorously  and 
control  their  own  members  effectually  they  are  certain  to  lose  sympa- 
thy in  their  contentions  and  to  be  defeated,  even  though  their  cause  be 
just  and  deserve  success. 

In  March,  1894,  the  employees  of  Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company, 
being  dissatisfied  with  their  wages,  rents,  and  shop  treatment  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  town,  sought  organization,  and  joined 
the  American  Railway  Union  in  large  numbers,  (a)  Their  meetings  were 
held  outside  of  Pullman,  because  the  town  has  no  facilities  for  such 
purposes,  (b) 

The  Pullman  company  is  hostile  to  the  idea  of  conferring  with  organ- 
ized labor  iu  the  settlement  of  differences  arising  between  it  and  its 
employees.  The  position  of  the  company  in  this  respect  is  clearly  stated 
in  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Wickes,  its  second  vice-president,  which  is  here 
cited : 

Q.  L'i'li.  Has  the  company  had  any  policy  with  reference  to  labor 
unions  among  its  help? — Ans.  Xo;  we  have  never  objected  to  unions 
except  in  one  instance.  I  presume  that  there  are  quite  a  number  of 
unions  in  our  shops  now. 

n.  I'll.!.  What  are  they! — Ans.  I  couldn't  tell  you,  but  I  have  heard  of 
some  of  them.  1  suppose  the  cabinetmakers  have  a  union,  and.  I  sup- 
pose the  car  builders  have  a  union,  and  the  carvers,  and  the  painters, 
and  other  classes  of  men.  We  do  not  inquire  into  that  at  all. 

<t>.  224.  That  is,  unions  among  themselves  in  the  works  ? — Ans.  Mem- 
bers of  the  craft,  belonging  to  other  unions;  that  is,  the  cabinet  union 
might  have  its  headquarters  in  Chicago  and  our  men  would  be  mem- 
bers of  it;  but  we  did  not  object  to  anything  of  that  kind. 

a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  question  3;  also  page  432. 
6 See  above  reference;  also  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions  230  to  234, 
quoted  on  page  XXVI. 


XXVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Q.  225.  The  only  objection  you  ever  made  was  to  the  American  Kail- 
way  Union,  wasn't  it! — Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  226.  What  is  tin-  basis  of  your  objection  to  that  union? — Ans.  Our 
objection  to  that  was  that  we  would  not  treat  with  our  men  as  mem- 
bers of  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  we  would  not  treat  with 
them  as  members  of  any  union.  We  treat  with  them  as  individuals 
and  as  men. 

<.).  L'l'T.  That  is,  each  man  as  an  individual,  do  you  mean  that? — 
Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  228.  Don't  you  think,  Mr.  Wickes,  that  it  would  give  the  corpora- 
tion a  very  groat  advantage  over  those  men  if  it  could  take  them  up 
one  at  a  time  and  discuss  the  question  with  him?  With  the  ability  that 
you  have  got,  for  instance,  where  do  you  think  the  man  would  stand 
in  such  a  discussion? — Ans.  The  man  has  got  probably  more  ability 
than  I  have. 

Q.  229.  You  think  that  it  would  be  fair  to  your  men  for  each  one  of 
them  to  come  before  you  and  take  up  the  question  of  his  grievances  and 
attempt  to  maintain  his  end  of  the  discussion,  do  you? — Ans.  I  think  so; 
yes.  If  he  is  not  able  to  do  that,  that  is  his  misfortune. 

Q.  230.  Don't  you  think  that  the  fact  that  you  represent  a  vast  con- 
centration of  capital,  and  are  selected  for  that  because  of  your  ability 
to  represent  it,  entitles  him,  if  he  pleases,  to  unite  with  all  of  the  men  of 
his  craft  and  select  the  ablest  one  they  have  got  to  represent  the  cause  ? — 
Ans.  As  a  union? 

Q.  231.  As  a  union. — Ans.  They  have  the  right;  yes,  sir.  We  have 
the  right  to  say  whether  we  will  receive  them  or  not. 

Q.  232.  Do  you  think  you  have  any  right  to  refuse  to  recognize  that 
right  in  treating  with  the  men? — Ans.  Yes,  sir;  if  we  chose  to. 

Q.  233.  If  you  chose  to.    Is  it  your  policy  to  do  that? — Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

(,».  234.  Then  you  think  that  you  have  the  right  to  refuse  to  recognize 
a  union  of  the  men  designed  for  the  purpose  of  presenting,  through  the 
ablest  of  their  members,  to  your  company  the  grievances  which  all  com- 
plain of  or  which  any  complain  of  ? — Ans.  Thatis  the  policy  of  the  com- 
pany ;  yes,  sir.  If  we  were  to  receive  these  men  as  representatives  of 
the  unions  they  could  probably  force  us  to  pay  any  wages  which  they 
saw  fit,  and  get  the  Pullman  company  in  the  same  shape  that  some 
of  the  railroads  are  by  making  concessions  which  ought  not  to  be 
made. 

Q.  235.  Don't  you  think  that  the  opposite  policy,  to  wit,  that  all 
your  dealings  with  the  men,  as  individuals,  in  case  you  were  one  who 
sought  to  abuse  your  power,  might  enable  you  to  pay  to  the  men,  on 
the  other  hand,  just  what  you  saw  fit? — Aus.  Well,  of  course  a  man  in 
an  official  position,  if  he  is  arbitrary  and  unfair,  could  work  a  great 
deal  of  injustice  to  the  men;  no  doubt  about  that.  But  then  it  is  a 
man's  privilege  to  go  to  work  somewhere  else. 

Q.  236.  Don't  you  recognize  as  to  many  men,  after  they  have  become 
settled  in  a  place  at  work  of  that  kind,  that  really  that  privilege  does 
not  amount  to  much? — Ans.  We  find  that  the  best  men  usually  come  to 
the  front ;  the  best  of  our  men  don't  give  us  any  trouble  with  unions 
or  anything  else.  It  is  only  the  inferior  men — that  is,  the  least  compe- 
tent— that  give  us  the  trouble  as  a  general  thing. 

Since  the  strike,  withdrawal  from  the  American  Railway  Union  is 
required  from  those  seeking  work,  (a)  The  company  does  not  recognize 

a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  question  319. 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XXVII 

that  labor' organizations  have  any  place  or  necessity  in  Pullman,  where 
the  company  fixes  wages  and  rents,  and  refuses  to  treat  with  labor 
organ ixat ions.  The  laborer  can  work  or  quit  on  the  terms  offered; 
that  is  the  limit  of  his  rights.  To  join  a  labor  organization  in  order  to 
secnre  the  protection  of  union  against  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  is 
overstepping  the  limit  and  arouses  hostility.  This  position  secures  all 
the  advantage  of  the  concentration  of  capital,  ability,  power,  and  con- 
trol for  the  company  in  its  labor  dealings,  and  deprives  the  employees 
of  any  such  advantage  or  protection  as  a  labor  union  might  afford. 
In  this  respect  the  Pullman  company  is  behind  the  age. 

To  admit  the  Pullman  shop  employees,  however,  into  the  American 
Rail  way  Union  as  "persons  employed  in  railway  service  "  was  not  wise 
or  expedient.  The  constitution  can  not  fairly  be  construed  to  include 
as  eligible  members  those  who  build  cars  and  run  them  in  and  out 
over  private  switches.  Such  loose  construction  of  a  labor  constitution 
is  certain  to  involve  any  organization  in  such  an  infinite  variety 
of  conflicting  positions  and  to  force  it  into  so  many  contests  demanding 
different  and  perhaps  apparently  inconsistent  treatment  at  the  same 
time  as  to  curtail  its  usefulness  and  threaten  its  existence.  To  reach 
oufrand  take  in  those  so  alien  to  its  natural  membership  as  the  Pullman 
employees,  was,  in  the  inception  of  the  organization  at  least,  a  mistake. 
This  mistake  led  the  union  into  a  strike  purely  sympathetic  and  aided 
to  bring  upon  it  a  crushing  and  demoralizing  defeat. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  officers  and  directors  of  the  Ameri- 
can Railway  Union  did  not  want  a  strike  at  Pullman,  and  that  they 
advised  against  it,(a)  but  the  exaggerated  idea  of  the  power  of  the 
union,  which  induced  the  workmen  at  Pullman  to  join  the  order,  led 
to  their  striking  against  this  advice.  Having  struck,  the  union  could 
do  nothing  less,  upon  the  theory  at  its  base,  than  support  them.  . 

The  union  was  as  yet  young;  its  membership  was  not  as  extensive 
as  it  hoped  to  obtain;  its  workings  had  the  roughness  of  incipient 
effort  in  a  new  direction ;  it  had  recently  attained  some  success  in  a 
strike  upon  the  "  Great  Northern,"  and  had  thus  aroused  extravagant 
expectations  among  its  members  generally;  great  business  depression 
prevailed ;  large  numbers  were  idle  and  stood  ready  to  accept  almost 
any  offer  of  work.  For  these  reasons  the  officers  and  directors  of  the 
union  knew  that  the  times  were  inopportune  for  striking  and  did  not 
advocate  it. 

A  union  embracing  all  railroad  employees,  even,  is  as  yet  a  doubtful 
experiment.  Such  a  union  will  have  great  difficulty  in  moulding  itself 
to  the  complex  character,  nationalities,  habits,  employments,  and 
requirements  of  its  vast  and  varied  membership. 

The  trade  unionists  argue  that  their  strength  lies  largely  in  their 

a  See  testimony  of  George  "W.  Howard,  qiu-itiong  21  and  22;  testimony  of  Frank 
T.  McDonald,  latter  part  of  question  5  and  question  6;  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
questions  8  and  22. 


XXVIII  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

comparative  freedom  from  these  objections;  and  they  insist  that  the 
basis  of  the  membership  of  a  successful  labor  organization  must  be 
substantial  similarity  in  interests  among  the  members.  Trades  unions 
have  a  record  of  success  both  here  and  abroad,  especially  in  England, 
•which  largely  sustains  their  position.  They  have  promoted  concilia- 
tion, arbitration,  conservatism,  and  responsibility  in  labor  contentions 
and  agreements. 

To  preserve  the  integrity  of  associations  designed  to  unite  and  organ- 
ize labor  on  such  a  broad  basis  as  that  of  the  American  Railway 
Union  but  two  courses  seem  open : 

(1)  To  take  a  position  against  all  strikes,  except  as  a  last  resort  for 
unbearable  grievances,  and  to  seek  the  more  rational  methods  of  con- 
ciliation and  arbitration.    To  this  object  the  power  of  public  opinion 
would  lend  aid  to  an  extent  not  now  appreciated. 

(2)  Conservative  leadership,  legal  status,  and  the  education  of  mem- 
bers in  governmental  matters,  with  the  principle  in  view  that  in  this 
country  nothing  can  accomplish  permanent  protection  and  final  redress 
of  wrongs  for  labor  as  an  entirety  except  conservative  progress, lawful 
conduct,  and  wise  laws  enacted  and  sustained  by  the  public  opinion  of 
its  rulers — the  people. 

THE  GENERAL  MANAGERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

This  voluntary,  unincorporated  association  was  formed  in  1886,  and  has 
as  members  the  24  railroads  centering  or  terminating  in  Chicago.  The 
following  facts  relating  to  these  roads  for  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1894,  have  been  furnished  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission : 

Number  of  miles  operated a  40, 933 

Number  of  stockholders b  52,  088 

Capitalization : 

Capital  stock a  $818,  569, 004 

Funded  debt a  $1, 210, 235,  702 

Current  liabilities a  $79,  747,  911 


Total a  $2, 108,552,617 

Gross  earnings C$325,  825.  T.'ti 

Net  earnings , c  $102,  710, 917 

Number  of  employees d  221,  097 

a  Data  for  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  are  from  Poor's  Manual  of 
Railroads,  1894. 

b  Not  including  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  and  the  Chicago  and 
Northern  Pacific  Railway. 

o  Data  for  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company  and  the  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  are  from  Poor's  Manual  of  Railroads,  1894.  Those  for 
the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  are  for  the  year  ending  December 
31, 1893. 

d  Not  including  the  Union  Stock  Yard  and  Transit  Company,  the  Chicago  and 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and  (except  general  officers)  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne 
and  Chicago  Railway. 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XXIX 

In  its  constitution  the  object  of  the  association  is  stated  to  be  "  the 
consideration  of  problems  of  management  arising  from  the  operation 
of  railroads  terminating  or  centering  at  Chicago."  It  further  provides 
that  "all  funds  needed  shall  be  raised  by  assessments  divided  equally 
among  the  members."  There  are  no  limitations  as  to  "consideration 
of  problems"  or  "funds"  except  the  will  of  the  managers  and  the 
resources  of  the  railroad  corporations. 

Prior  to  the  recent  strike  the  association  was  chiefly  concerned  with 
mat  ters  other  than  wages.  It  dealt  with  all  questions  concerning  trans- 
portation centering  at  Chicago  in  which  the  roads  had  a  common  inter- 
est. It  thus  determined  the  policy  and  practically  fixed  the  relations 
of  all  of  the  roads  toward  the  public  as  to  switching,  car  service,  load- 
ing and  unloading  cars,  weights  of  live  stock,  rates,  etc.,  and  sustained 
each  road  in  maintaining  the  position  of  the  association  as  to  these 
matters,  (a) 

Until  June,  1894,  the  association  dealt  incidentally  and  infrequently 
with  wages.  There  were  few  railroad  controversies  as  to  wages  during 
its  active  life,  dating  from  January  20, 1892.  (6)  Hence  its  possibilities 
as  a  strike  fighter  and  wage  arbiter  lay  rather  dormant.  The  following 
are  instances  of  its  .action  as  to  wage  questions.  Its  roads  fixed  a 
"Chicago  scale"  for  switchmen,  covering  all  lines  at  Chicago.  In 
March,  1893,  the  switchmen  demanded  more  pay  from  each  road.  The 
association  concluded  that  they  were  paid  enough — if  anything,  too 
much.  The  roads  so  informed  the  men.  The  Switchmen's  Mutual  Aid 
Association  of  North  America  wrote  to  Mr.  St.  John,  as  chairman, 
acquiescing.  He,  as  chairman  of  the  General  Managers'  Association, 
concluded  his  reply  as  follows : 

The  association  approves  the  course  taken  by  your  body  and  desires 
to  deal  fairly  with  all  employees  and  believes  that  our  switchmen  are 
receiving  due  consideration. 

This  seems  to  show  that  employees  upon  association  roads  are  treated 
as  under  subjection  to  the  General  Managers'  Association.  Mr.  St. 
John,  the  president  of  the  association,  testifies  as  follows: 

The  result  of  this  declination  on  the  part  of  the  various  companies 
directly  to  their  own  committees  was  a  threat  on  the  part  of  some  that 
a  strike  would  occur,  and  in  times  of  trouble  of  that  kind,  or  antici- 
pated trouble,  it  would  be  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for  the 
association,  or  any  line  member  of  it,  to  arrange  to  protect  the  interests 
of  the  company  he  represented.  He  could  not  do  otherwise.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  by  which  agencies  were  established  and  men  employed 
to  come  to  Chicago  in  case  of  necessity. 

Q.  256.  Were  those  agencies  established  by  the  Managers'  Associa- 
tion!— Ans.  Yes,  sir. 

I).  L'.")7.  And  they  were  designed  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  any 
line  in  the  association t — Ans.  That  was  a  member  of  it. 

a  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  p%ges  242  and  243. 
b  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  pages  244  and  245. 


XXX  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

Q.  258.  Against  anything  they  deemed  to  be  an  attempt  to  enforce  an 
unjust  demand? — An*.  Yes,  sir. 

().  259.  Was  that  the  first  occasion  the  managers  ever  took  action  in 
that  direction? — Ans.  That  was  the  first  occasion  it  took  action  during 
any  period  I  was  chairman  of  it. 

This  was  the  first  time  when  men  upon  each  line  were  brought  sharply 
face  to  face  with  the  fact  that  in  questions  as  to  wages,  rules,  etc., 
each  line  was  supported  by  24  combined  railroads.  On  several  other 
occasions  similar  action  was  taken ;  for  instance,  when  some  baggage 
agents  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Eailway  wanted 
higher  wages,  a  committee  of  the  association  disposed  of  the  matter. 
Mr.  St.  John  was  asked : 

Q.  286.  Why  was  not  that  application  disposed  of  by  the  Lake  Shore 
road  instead  of  by  the  General  Managers'  Association? — Ans.  In  order 
that  it  might  receive  the  attention  due  to  the  application,  and  so  the 
pay  of  other  roads  could  be  determined,  and  see  if  we  were  under- 
paying them.  There  has  been  quite  a  number  of  cases  where  the  prayer 
of  the  petition  has  been  granted  by  this  committee,  and  quite  a  number 
where  it  has  been  declined,  but  only  after  the  most  careful  investigation. 

This  answer  is  ingenious  and  suggestive. 

This  association  likewise  prepared  for  its  use  elaborate  schedules  of 
the  wages  paid  upon  the  entire  lines  of  its  2i  members.  The  proposed 
object  of  these  schedules  was  to  let  each  road  know  what  other  roads 
paid.  Finding  that  the  men  upon  some  lines  urged  increase  to  corre- 
spond with  wages  paid  elsewhere,  a  committee  of  the  association  pre- 
pared and  presented  a  uniform  schedule  for  all  membership  roads.  It 
was  deemed  wise  not  to  act  upon  the  report.  It  was  distributed  to 
members  in  November,  1893.  This  distribution  alone  enabled  the 
report  to  be  used  with  efficiency  as  an  "equalizer."  As  the  result, 
during  1893 — it  being  then  well  understood  that  as  to  wages,  etc.,  it 
was  an  incident  of  the  General  Managers'  Association  to  "assist" each 
road  in  case  of  trouble  over  such  matters,  one  form  of  assistance  being 
for  the  association  to  secure  men  enough  through  its  agencies  to  take 
the  places  of  all  strikers  (a) — reductions  were  here  and  there  made  on 
the  different  roads,  the  tendency  and  effort  apparently  being  to  equalize 
the  pay  on  all  lines. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  action  of  the  association  has  great  weight 
with  outside  lines,  and  thus  tends  to  establish  one  uniform  scale 
throughout  the  country,  (b)  The  further  single  step  of  admitting  lines 
not  running  into  Chicago  to  membership  would  certainly  have  the 
effect  of  combining  all  railroads  in  wage  contentions  against  all 
employees  thereon. 

The  commission  questions  whether  any  legal  authority,  statutory  or 
otherwise,  can  be  found  to  justify  some  of  the  features  of  the  associa 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  and  133;  testimony  of  Everett  St. 
John,  quoted  on  pages  xxix  and  xxx;  testimony  of  John  M.  Egan,  question  4. 
b  See  testimony  of  Everett  St.  John,  question  280. 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XXXI 

tion  which  have  come  to  light  in  this  investigation.  If  we  regard  its 
practical  workings  rather  than  its  professions  as  expressed  in  its  con- 
stitution, the  General  Managers'  Association  has  no  more  standing  in 
law  t  lian  the  old  Trunk  Line  Pool.  It  can  not  incorporate,  because  rail- 
road charters  do  not  authorize  roads  to  form  corporations  or  associa- 
tions to  ti\  rates  for  services  and  wages,  nor  to  force  their  acceptance, 
nor  to  battle  with  strikers.  It  is  a  usurpation  of  power  not  granted. 
If  such  an  association  is  necessary  from  a  business  or  economic  stand- 
point, the  right  to  form  and  maintain  it  must  come  from  the  State  that 
granted  its  charter.  Ill  theory,  corporations  are  limited  to  the  powers 
granted  either  directly  or  by  clear  inference.  We  do  not  think  the 
power  has  been  granted  in  either  way  in  this  case. 

The  association  is  an  illustration  of  the  persistent  and  shrewdly 
devised  plans  of  corporations  to  overreach  their  limitations  and  to 
usurp  indirectly  powers  and  rights  not  contemplated  in  their  charters 
and  not  obtainable  from  the  people  or  their  legislators.  An  extension  of 
this  association,  as  above  suggested,  and  the  proposed  legalization  of 
"pooling''  would  result  in  an  aggregation  of  power  and  capital  dan- 
gerous to  the  people  and  their  liberties  as  well  as  to  employees  and  their 
rights.  The  question  would  then  certainly  arise  as1  to  which  shall  con- 
trol, the  Government  or  the  railroads,  and  the  end  would  inevitably 
be  Ciovernnieiit  ownership.  Unless  ready  for  that  result  and  all  that 
it  implies,  the  Government  must  restrain  corporations  -within  the  law, 
and  prevent  them  from  forming  unlawful  and  dangerous  combinations. 
At  least,  so  long  as  railroads  are  thus  permitted  to  combine  to  fix 
•s  and  for  their  joint  protection,  it  would  be  rank  injustice  to  deny 
the  right  of  all  labor  upon  railroads  to  unite  for  similar  purposes. 

1 1  should  be  noted  that  until  the  railroads  set  the  example  a  general 
union  of  railroad  employees  was  never  attempted. (a)  The  unions  had 
not  gone  beyond  enlisting  the  men  upon  different  systems  in  separate 
trade  organizations.^)  These  neutralize  and  check  each  other  to  some 
extent  and  have  no  such  scope  or  capacity  for  good  or  evil  as  is  possi- 
ble under  the  universal  combination  idea  inaugurated  by  the  railroads 
and  followed  by  the  American  Railway  Union.  The  refusal  of  the 
General  .Managers'  Association  to  recognize  and  deal  with  such  a  com- 
bination of  labor  as  the  American  Eailway  Union  seems  arrogant  and 
absurd  when  we  consider  its  standing  before  the  law,  its  assumptions, 
and  its  past  and  obviously  contemplated  future  action. 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  and  133;  testimony  of  Everett 
St.  John,  question  228;  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  49. 

b  See  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  pages  12  to  14 ;  see  also  constitution  of 
American  Railway  Union,  published  in  connection  with  testimony  of  George  W. 
Howard,  and  such  portions  of  constitution  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  as  are  published 
in  connection  with  the  testimony  of  James  E.  Sovereign;  see  also  testimony  of 
Everett  St.  John,  question  'Ji. 


XXXII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

THE  PULLMAN  STRIKE:  ITS  CAUSES  AND  EVENTS. 

Pullman's  Palace  Car  Company  is  in  the  market  at  all  times  to 
obtain  all  possible  contracts  to  build  cars.  Its  relations  with  railroads, 
its  large  capital  and  surplus,  its  complete  and  well-located  plant  and 
efficient  management  enable  it  at  all  times  to  meet  all  competitors  on 
at  least  equal  terms.  Prior  to  the  business  depression  of  1893,  the 
company  was  unusually  active  in  building  new  cars  for  itself  and  for 
railroads  to  meet  the  expanded  demands  of  general  business,  and  for 
the  expected  requirements  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  traffic.  Its 
repair  department  was  also  full  of  work.  An  average  number  of  4,497 
workmen,  during  the  year  ending  July  1, 1893,  earned  $2,760,548.99,  or 
an  average  of  $013.86  each.  The  wages  paid  were  about  the  same  as 
paid  elsewhere  in  the  business,  Mr.  Wickes  thinks  possibly  a  little 
higher. 

The  depression  of  1893  naturally  affected  the  business  at  once,  and 
to  a  greater  extent  in  some  departments  than  in  others.  Matters  grew 
worse  until,  in  the  fall  of  1893,  the  company  closed  its  Detroit  shops, 
employing  about  800,  and  concentrated  its  contract  and  repair  business 
at  Pullman.  The  company  and  the  railroads  had  a  surplus  of  cars  for 
the  decreased  traffic  obtainable,  and  hence  pending  orders  were  can- 
celed and  car  building  stopped,  except  as  occasional  straggling  con- 
tracts were  obtained  at  prices  which  averaged  less  than  shop  cost, 
exclusive  of  interest  upon  capital  or  any  charge  for  depreciation  of 
plant  or  machinery. 

WAGES. 

From  September  18, 1893,  until  May  1,  1894,  the  company  did  con- 
tract work  at  the  price  of  $1,421,205.75,  which  was  $52,069.03,  or  3.663 
per  cent  below  shop  cost  for  labor  and  materials.(a)  Against  this  the 
loss  to  labor  by  the  reduction  of  wages  paid  on  this  work  was  over 
$60,000,  making  the  wages  of  June,  1893,  the  basis  of  comparison.  (6) 
It  also  had  $1,354,276.06  of  unaccepted  bids,  upon  which  its  similar 
loss  would  have  been  $18,303.56,  or  1.35  per  cent,  (a)  Assuming  that 
the  analysis  submitted  as  to  the  cost  of  several  lots  of  cars  affords  a 
fair  basis  for  averaging  the  whole  of  the  contracts,  it  appears  that  the 
average  percentage  of  cost  of  material  in  this  contract  work  was  about 
75  per  cent.  Hence  while  the  amount  of  loss  was  nearly  equally 
divided,  it  seems  that  the  percentage  of  loss  borne  by  labor  in  the 
reduction  of  wages  was  much  greater  than  that  sustained  by  the  com- 
pany upon  material.  Three-quarters  of  the  loss  for  the  company  and 
the  balance  for  labor  would  have  more  fairly  equalized  the  division  of 
loss  on  these  contracts. 

a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  577. 

6  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H,  Wickes,  questions  45  and  46. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXIII 

Some  justification  for  the  determination  of  the  company  as  to  the 
division  of  loss  is  claimed  from  the  fact  that  in  addition  to  its  loss  the 
company  received  no  interest  upon  its  capital,  etc.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  an  economic  principle  generally  recognized  that  the  shutting  down 
of  such  a  plant  and  the  scattering  of  its  forces  usually  result  in  a 
greater  loss  than  that  exhibited  here  by  the  continuance  of  business. 
The  Pullman  company  could  hardly  shut  down  for  seven  and  a  half 
months  at  a  cost  and  loss  of  less  than  1  per  cent  upon  its  capital  and 
surplus.  To  continue  running  was  for  its  obvious  and  unfair  advan- 
tage so  long  as  it  could  divide  losses  equally  with  its  labor. 

The  cut  in  wages  during  this  period  averaged  about  25  per  cent  and 
was  reached  in  two  ways  («) — 

First,  by  reducing  the  price  paid  for  piecework,  upon  which  2,800 
men  are  normally  employed.  This  price  is  claimed  to  be  based  upon 
what  a  competent  workman  can  do  in  a  day.  By  testing  the  men  the 
prices  are  thus  fixed  so  that  a  man,  if  neither  an  expert  nor  a  laggard, 
ran  earn  an  amount  which  is  regarded  by  the  company  as  fair  wages. 
The  men  at  Pullman  claim  that  the  company  during  1893-94  set  the 
pace  through  experts,  so  that  with  their  forced  loss  of  time  an  average 
man  could  earn  little  more  than  the  rent  of  his  home,  owned  by  the 
company,  (b)  The  company  alleges  that  it  simply  readjusted  piecework 
prices  to  suit  the  necessities  of  the  times.  The  letting  of  piecework 
and  the  readjustment  of  prices  therefor  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
"foremen,"  and  hence  sometimes  subject  to  abuses,  unknown  to  the 
management. 

Second,  by  reducing  the  pay  in  the  repair  shops,  employing  about 
800,  to  correspond  with  the  contract- work  prices,  (c)  The  main  reason 
given  for  this  reduction  was  that  wages  must  be  kept  uniform.  Under 
the  contracts  between  railroads  and  the  company  the  railroads  have 
paid,  since  1887,  2  cents  per  mile  for  each  mile  run  by  Pullman  cars,  (d) 
This  is  to  pay  the  Pullman  company  for  keeping  the  cars  in  repair,  as  it 
agrees  to  do,  and  is  exclusive  of  the  unreduced  charges  paid  to  the 
company  for  the  use  of  berths,  seats,  etc.  The  depression  of  1893 
caused  no  change  in  this  mileage  rate  under  existing  contracts.  The 
company  claims,  and  it  is  true,  undoubtedly,  that  the  depression  some- 
what reduced  this  fund  by  reason  of  the  larger  number  of  idle  cars 
than  usual  to  be  repaired  and  stored  at  some  expense,  and  caused 


a  See  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  page,  537;  also  questions  225,  226,  and  246; 
also  the  testimony  generally  of  all  employees  at  Pullman  sworn  oil  bearing;  also 
thf  various  tables  submitted  by  Thomas  H.  Wickes  bearing  on  the  matter,  including 
the  table  of  comparison  of  April,  1894,  with  April.  1893. 

ft  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  latter  part  of  answer  to  question  18 ; 
testimony  of  Merritt  Brown,  question  26 ;  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions 
148  to  154  inclusive. 

cSee  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  227,  228,  234,  and  235;  also  testi- 
mony of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  question  274. 

d  See  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  questions  268  to  273. 
S.  Ex.  7 in 


XXXIV 


CHICAGO   STRIKE. 


some  losses  from  failing  roads.  The  testimony  of  the  Pullman  com- 
pany, however,  has  left  its  claim  in  this  regard  in  such  loose  and 
indefinite  shape  as  to  compel  the  conclusion  that  the  reduction  in  the 
repair  department  was  not  made  with  reference  to  these  depression 
results,  but  was  part  of  a  plan  designed  to  reduce  wages  in  every 
department  to  the  lowest  point  possible  to  be  reached  in  the  depart- 
ment most  seriously  affected  by  the  depression.  Some  reduction  of 
wages  in  all  departments  was  of  course  proper  under  the  circumstances, 
but  a  uniform  reduction  as  between  departments  so  differently  situated 
in  reference  to  revenue  as  the  car-building  and  repair  departments 
was  not  relatively  just  and  fair  toward  the  repair-shop  employees. 

The  earnings  of  employees  at  Pullman  were  reduced  by  these  means 
and  by  lessening  the  amount  of  work,  as  appears  in  the  table  imme- 
diately following: 

EARNINGS  OF  CERTAIN  EMPLOYEES  AT  PULLMAN.  1893-94. 


Bate. 

T.W.  Heathcoate, 
inside  finisher. 

T.  Rhodie, 
painter. 

E.  W.  Coombs, 
car  builder. 

Jennie  Curtis, 
seamstress. 

Hours. 

Amount 

Hours. 

Amount. 

Hours.    Amount. 

Hours. 

Amount. 

1893. 
Mav... 

252} 

Mi 

233^ 
244J 
167} 
114 
119 
229} 

261 
238J 
262} 
1851 

$78.00 
96.85 
69.12 
62.75 
44.77 
26.92 
29.05 
43.85 

49.30 
44.95 
51.53 
37.77 

244J 
2411 
216 
242 
232 
230} 
1251 
52J 

279J 
227} 
254 
226} 

$05.  GG 
65.28 
57.05 
65.14 
62.62 
G2.04 
32.58 
12.52 

66.84 
51.69 
51.12 
48.65 

196} 
92 
170 
173 
94 
421 
91 
1401 

192} 
240 
125 
60 

$47.42 
21.00 
38.75 
36.91 
21.50 
7.39 
20.51 
18.37 

34.00 
60.00 
30.80 
9.00 

235} 
2121 
181 
197} 
147} 
2301 
151 
1801 

216 
184 
212 
197} 

$39.85 
31.24 
27.72 
30.18 
23.90 
34.02 
24.  :i9 
28.18 

34.21 
25.47 
24.92 
22.14 

July 

October 

1894. 

March 

April 

Total 

2.588J 

634.80 

2,572 

641.19 

1,616} 

345.68 

2.3451 

346  82 

The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  for  the  years  ending  July  1,  1893, 
and  July  1, 1894,  has  been  stated. 

The  above  table  is  presented  by  the  company.  Some  witnesses 
swear  that  at  times,  for  the  work  done  in  two  weeks,  the  employees 
received  in  checks  from  4  cents  to  $1  over  and  above  their  rent,  (a)  The 
company  lias  not  produced  its  checks  in  rebuttal. 

During  all  of  this  reduction  and  its  attendant  suffering  none  of  the 
salaries  of  the  officers,  managers,  or  superintendents  were  reduced,  (b) 
Keductions  in  these  would  not  have  been  so  severely  felt,  would  have 
shown  good  faith,  would  have  relieved  the  harshness  of  the  situation, 
and  would  have  evinced  genuine  sympathy  with  labor  in  the  disasters 
of  the  times. 


a  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  questions  88,  107,  and  108. 
JSee  testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  358  and  359, 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXV 

In  its  statements  to  the  public,  which  are  in  evidence,  the  company 
represents  that  its  object  in  all  it  did  was  to  continue  operations  for 
the  benefit  of  its  workmen  and  of  trades  people  in  and  about  Pullman 
and  to  save  the  public  from  the  annoyance  of  interrupted  travel.  The 
commission  thinks  that  the  evidence  shows  that  it  sought  to  keep  run- 
ning mainly  for  its  own  benefit  as  a  manufacturer,  that  its  plant  might 
not  rust,  that  its  competitors  might  not  invade  its  territory,  that  it 
might  keep  its  cars  in  repair,  that  it  might  be  ready  for  resumption 
when  business  revived  with  a  live  plant  and  competent  help,  and  that 
its  revenue  from  its  tenements  might  continue,  (a) 

RENTS. 

If  we  exclude  the  aesthetic  and  sanitary  features  at  Pullman,  the 
rents  there  are  from  20  to  25  per  cent  higher  than  rents  in  Chicago  or 
surrounding  towns  for  similar  accommodations.^)  Theajsthetic  features 
are  admired  by  visitors,  but  have  little  money  value  to  employees, 
especially  when  they  lack  bread.  The  company  aims  to  secure  6 
per  cent  upon  the  cost  of  its  tenements,  which  cost  includes  a  propor- 
tionate share  for  paving,  sewerage,  water,  parks,  etc.  It  claims  now 
to  receive  less  than  4  per  cent.  It  has  some  brickmakers'  cottages 
upon  which,  at  $8  per  month,  it  must  obtain  at  least  40  per  cent 
return  upon  their  value,  (c)  These  are,  however,  exceptional.  Thecom- 
pany  makes  all  repairs,  and  heretofore  has  not  compelled  tenants 
to  pay  for  them.  Under  the  printed  leases,  however,  which  tenants 
must  sign,  they  agree  to  pay  for  all  repairs  which  are  either  necessary 
(ordinary  wear  and  damages  by  the  elements  not  exceptecl)  or  which 
the  company  chooses  to  make. 

The  company's  claim  that  the  workmen  need  not  hire  its  tenements 
and  can  live  elsewhere  if  they  choose  is  not  entirely  tenable.  The  fear 
of  losing  work  keeps  them  in  Pullman  as  long  as  there  are  tenements 
unoccupied,  because  the  company  is  supposed,  as  a  matter  of  business, 
to  give  a  preference  to  its  tenants  when  work  is  slack.  The  employees, 
believing  that  a  tenant  at  Pullman  has  this  advantage,  naturally  feel 
some  compulsion  to  rent  at  Pullman,  and  thus  to  stand  well  with  the 
management,  (d)  Exceptional  and  necessary  expert  workmen  do  not 
share  this  feeling  to  the  same  extent  and  are  more  free  to  hire  or 
own  homes  elsewhere,  (e)  While  reducing  wages  the  company  made  no 


testimony  of  George  M.  Pullman,  questions  350  to  357. 

/i  Sec  testimony  of  Isaiah  Campbell,  questions  22  to  35  inclusive;  testimony  of 
L.  H.  Johnson,  questions  50  to  52;  testimony  of  Duane  Doty,  questions  12  to  16; 
testimony  of  Andrew  \V.  Pearson;  testimony  of  Rev.  M.  L.  Wickman,  questions  8 
and  !•"'. 

.  s,  ,•  testimony  of  Duane  Doty,  questions  1,  2,  8  to  23,  and  28  to  36  inclusive;  tes- 
timony of  George  M.  Pullman,  page  530;  testimony  of  L.  H.  Johnson,  questions  53 
and  54. 

df-i  '•  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  questions  75  and  76;  testimony  of  Rev, 
M.  L.  Wickman,  questions  9  to  12  inclusive,  and  21  and  22. 

t  See  testimony  of  Rev.  M.  L.  Wickman,  questions  12  and  13, 


XXXVI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

reduction  in  rents.  Its  position  is  that  the  two  matters  are  distinct, 
and  that  none  of  the  reasons  urged  as  justifying  wage  reduction  by  it 
as  an  employer  can  be  considered  by  the  company  as  a  landlord. 

The  company  claims  that  it  is  simply  legitimate  business  to  use  its 
position  and  resources  to  hire  in  the  labor  market  as  cheaply  as  possi 
ble  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  rents  up  regardless  of  what  wages 
are  paid  to  its  tenants  or  what  similar  tenements  rent  for  elsewhere;  to 
avail  itself  to  the  full  extent  of  business  depression  and  competition  in 
reducing  wages,  and  to  disregard  these  same  conditions  as  to  rents. 
No  valid  reason  is  assigned  for  this  position  except  simply  that  the 
company  had  the  power  and  the  legal  right  to  doit. 

Prior  to  the  so-called  "truck"  law  in  Illinois,  rent  was  deducted 
from  the  wages,  (a)  Since  then  a  check  is  given  for  the  amount  of  the 
rent  and  another  for  the  balance  due  for  wages,  (b)  There  is  nothing 
to  prevent  the  payee  of  the  check  from  cashing  it  outside  of  the  bank, 
but  as  the  bank  is  rent  collector  it  presses  for  the  rent  and  is  aided  in 
collecting  it  by  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  tenant  that  by  arrears  he 
may  lose  his  job.  (c)  At  the  time  of  the  strike  about  $70,000  of  unpaid 
rents  had  accumulated.  (<l)  It  is  fair  to  say  that  this  accumulation  of 
unpaid  rent  was  due  to  leniency  on  the  part  of  the  company  toward 
those  who  could  not  pay  the  rent  and  support  their  families. .  Neither 
have  any  actual  evictions  taken  place.  The  company  has  held  these 
matters  in  abeyance  pending  wage  reductions  and  strike  difficulties. 

SHOP  ABUSES. 

Shop  abuses  also  played  some  part  in  the  controversy.  The  employees 
claimed  that  foremen  were  arbitrary  and  oppressive  and  mistreated  the 
men  in  various. ways,  (e)  It  is  likely  that  this  arose  largely  from  the 
friction  caused  by  wage  reductions  and  the  more  stringent  shop  rules 
needed  to  repress  growing  discontent.  In  times  of  depression  the 
officers,  directors,  managers,  superintendents,  and  foremen  of  large 
corporations  are  forced  by  their  representative  positions  to  bear  down 
on  labor  with  such  weight,  in  order  to  protect  stockholders  against 
loss,  that  labor  becomes  sore  and  sensitive  in  small  matters  that  might 
otherwise  be  overlooked.  When  these  minor  grievances  were  presented 
to  the  management  a  speedy  investigation  and  correction  were  promised. 
The  investigation  was  promptly  begun  before  the  employees  struck. 


a  See  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  question  69. 

fcSee  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  pages  515  and  516. 

cSee  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  pages  515  and  516;  also  questions  77  to  79 
inclusive,  and  140;  also  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  question  87. 

d  See  testimony  of  George  \V.  Howard,  in  question  32 ;  testimony  of  Thomas  W. 
Heathcoate,  question  73;  also  testimony  of  Edward  F.  Bryant,  questions  126  to  131 
inclusive. 

eSee  testimony  of  R.  W.  Coombs,  question  27;  testimony  of  H.  O.  Lindeblad,  in 
question  5. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXVII 

THE   STRIKE. 

The  reductions  at  Pullman  after  September,  1893,  were  the  result  of 
conferences  among  the  managers;  the  employees  for  the  first  time  knew 
of  them  when  they  took  effect.  No  explanations  or  conferences  took 
place  until  May  7  and  9  in  regard  thereto  between  the  employees  and 
the  officers  of  the  company.  For  the  reasons  stated  the  employees  at 
Pullman  were  during  the  winter  in  a  state  of  chronic  discontent. (a) 
Upon  May  7  and  9  a  committee  of  40  from  all  the  departments  waited 
upon  the  management  and  urged  the  restoration  of  wages  to  the  basis 
of  June,  1893.  The  company  refused  this,  and  offered  no  concession  as 
to  wages  whatever,  maintaining  and  explaining  that  business  condi- 
tions did  not  justify  any  change.  The  company  based  its  entire  con- 
tention as  to  every  department  upon  the  facts  in  reference  to  car  build- 
ing (b)  to  which  we  have  alluded,  and  offered  to  show  its  books  and  figures 
as  to  the  cost  and  selling  prices  of  cars.  This  offer,  on  account  of  the 
strike  intervening,  was  not  acted  upon.  Had  it  been,  it  would  have 
resulted  in  the  figures  we  have  noted  as  to  car-building  contracts. 
The  purpose  of  the  management  was  obviously  to  rest  the  whole  matter 
upon  cost,  etc.,  in  its  most  seriously  crippled  department,  excluding 
from  consideration  the  facts  as  to  wages  in  the  repair  department,  to 
winch  w'e  have  alluded. 

The  demand  of  the  employees  for  the  wages  of  June,  1893,  was  clearly 
unjustifiable.  The  business  in  May,  1894,  could  not  pay  the  wages  of 
June,  1893.  Reduction  was  carried  to  excess,  but  the  company  was 
hardly  more  at  fault  therein  than  were  the  employees  in  insisting  upon 
the  wages  of  June,  1893.  There  was  little  discussion  as  to  rents,  the 
company  maintaining  that  its  rents  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  wages 
and  that  its  revenue  from  its  tenements  was  no  greater  than  it  ought 
to  receive.  Miss  Curtis  testified  as  to  this  as  follows: 

We  stated  our  grievances  to  Mr.  Wickes  and  told  him  we  wanted 
our  wages  raised;  he  said  it  was  impossible  to  raise  them,  as  the  com- 
pany was  losing  money  on  its  contracts  and  it  could  not  possibly  raise 
our  wages  a  cent.  We  then  asked  if  they  did  not  think  they  could  lower 
rents  a  little.  He  said,  "No;  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  lower  the  rents 
one  penny,  as  they  were  only  receiving  about  3  per  cent  on  their 
investment  now,  and  were  losing  money  on  contracts  just  to  enable 
their  men  to  have  work."  Mr.  Wickes  then  appointed  another  inter- 
view with  us  the  following  Wednesday,  and  we  went  down  again  and 
saw  Mr.  Pullman ;  he  said  he  could  not  raise  our  wages  nor  lower  the 
rents. 

The  company  had  a  legal  right  to  take  this  position,  but  as  between 
man  and  man  the  demand  for  some  rent  reduction  was  fair  and  reason- 


</See  testimony  of  Axel  Lundgren,  questions  4  to  12  inclusive;  testimony  of  Pull- 
man employees  generally;  also  statement  of  Pullman  employees  attached  to  testi- 
mony of  Sylvester  Keliher. 

b  See  pamphlet  introduced  by  Thomas  H.  Wickes  in  his  testimony,  pages  578  to 
586;  testimony  of  George  M  Pullmau,  question  45,  etc. ;  see  also  note  c,  pagexxxm. 


XXXVIII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

able  under  all  the  circumstances.  Some  slight  concession  in  this  regard 
would  probably  have  averted  the  strike,  provided  the  promise  not  to 
discharge  men  who  served  upon  the  committee  had  been  more  strictly 
regarded. 

The  next  day,  May  10,  three  of  the  committee  were  laid  oft'  by  fore- 
men for  alleged  lack  of  work,  (a)  not  an  unusual  proceeding.  Those  who 
made  the  promise  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  action  and  deny  knowl 
edge  of  it  at  the  time.  The  foremen  who  did  it  are  suspected  by  the 
employees  of  concluding  that  some  laying  oft  of  committeemen  just  ;tt 
that  crisis  would  have  a  good  effect  and  would  accord  with  the  policy 
and  general  views  of  the  company.  The  foremen,  however,  deny  this. 
This  incident  was  inopportune  and  unfortunate,  to  say  the  least,  and 
ought  to  have  been  more  carefully  guarded  against  by  the  company. 
An  explanation  of  this  occurrence  was  not  asked  for  by  the  employees, 
as  it  ought  to  have  been,  before  striking.  • 

On  the  evening  of  May  10  the  local  unions  met  and  voted  to  strike 
at  once.  The  strike  occurred  on  May  11,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
soldiers  went  to  Pullman,  about  July  4,  three  hundred  strikers  were 
placed  about  the  company's  property,  professedly  to  guard  it  from 
destruction  or  interference.  This  guarding  of  property  in  strikes  is,  as 
a  rule,  a  mere  pretense.  Too  often  the  real  object  of  guards  is  to  pre- 
vent newcomers  from  taking  strikers'  places,  by  persuasion,  often  to 
be  followed,  if  ineffectual,  by  intimidation  and  violence.  The  Pullman 
company  claims  this  was  the  real  object  of  these  guards.  The  strikers 
at  Pullman  are  entitled  to  be  believed  to  the  contrary  in  this  matter, 
because  of  their  conduct  and  forbearance  after  May  11.  It  is  in  evi- 
dence, and  uucontradicted.  that  no  violence  or  destruction  of  property 
by  strikers  or  sympathizers  took  placeat  Pullman,  (b)  and  thatuntil  July 
3  no  extraordinary  protection  was  had  from  the  police  or  military 
against  even  anticipated  disorder,  (c) 

Such  dignified,  manly,  and  conservative  conduct  in  the  midst  of 
excitement  and  threatened  starvation  is  worthy  of  the  highest  type  of 
American  citizenship,  and  with  like  prudence  in  all  other  directions 
will  result  in  due  time  iu  the  lawful  and  orderly  redress  of  labor 
wrongs.  To  deny  this  is  to  forswear  patriotism  and  to  declare  this 
Government  and  its  people  a  failure. 

As  soon  as  the  strike  was  declared  the  company  laid  oft'  its  600 
employees  who  did  not  join  the  strike,  and  kept  its  shops  closed  until 
August  2.  During  this  period  the  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago,  com- 
posed of  eminent  citizens  in  all  kinds  of  business  and  from  all  grades 
of  respectable  society,  called  upon  the  company  twice  to  urge  concili- 


aSee  testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  22;  also  statement  of  \V.  C.  Phil- 
pott  in  testimony  of  Thomas  H.  Wickes,  }>age  587. 

fc  See  testimony  of  Axel  Luudgren,  questions  41, 43,  46,  and  47 ;  also  statement  of 
Thomas  H.  Wickes,  page  591. 

c  See  testimony  of  Thomas  W.  Heathcoate,  page  417. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XXXIX 

ation  and  arbitration.  The  company  reiterated  the  statement  of  its 
position,  and  maintained  that  there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate;  that  the 
questions  at  issue  were  matters  of  fact  and  not  proper  subjects  of 
arbitration.  The  Civic  Federation  suggested  that  competition  should 
be  regarded  in  rents  as  well  as  in  wages.  The  company  denied  this. 
Wages  and  rents  were  to  it  separate  matters;  the  principles  applicable 
to  one  had  no  relation  to  the  other.  Later  it  gave  the  same  answer  to  a 
committee  of  its  employees.  Upon  June  15  and  22  it  declined  to  receive 
any  communication  from  committees  of  the  American  Railway  Union, 
one  proposition  of  that  body  being  that  the  company  select  two  arbitra- 
tors, the  court  two,  and  these  four  a  fifth,  to  determine  whether  there 
was  anything  to  arbitrate.  The  company  also  refused  to  consider  any 
arbitration  at  the  solicitation  of  the  common  council  of  Chicago,  and 
repeated  its  stereotyped  answer  that  there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate 
when  appealed  to  by  Mayor  Pingree,  of  Detroit,  himself  a  large  manu- 
facturer, whom  Mayor  Hopkins  accompanied  to  Pullman.  At  that 
interview  Mayor  Pingree  claimed  to  have  telegrams  from  the  mayors 
of  over  fifty  of  the  largest  cities,  urging  that  there  should  be  arbitra- 
tion. 

RAILROAD  STRIKE. 

Between  June  9  and  June  26  a  regular  convention  of  the  American 
Railway  Union  was  held  with  open  doors  at  Chicago,  representing  465 
local  unions  and  about  150,000  members,  as  claimed.  The  Pullman 
matter  was  publicly  discussed  at  these  meetings  before  and  after  its 
committees  above  mentioned  reported  their  interview  s  with  the  Pull- 
man company.  On  June  21  the  delegates,  under  instructions  from 
their  local  unions,  unanimously  voted  that  the  members  of  the  union 
should  stop  handling  Pullman  cars  on  June  26  unless  the  Pullman 
company  would  consent  to  arbitration.  On  June  26  .the  boycott  and 
strike  began.  The  strike  on  the  part  of  the  railroad  employees  was  a 
sympathetic  one.  No  grievances  against  the  railroads  had  been  pre- 
sented by  their  employees,  nor  did  the  American  Railway  Union  declare 
any  such  grievances  to  be  any  cause  whatever  of  the  strike.  To  simply 
boycott  Pullman  cars  would  have  been  an  incongruous  step  for  the 
remedy  of  complaints  of  railroad  employees.  Throughout  the  strike  the 
strife  was  simply  over  handling  Pullman  cars,  the  men  being  ready  to 
do  their  duty  otherwise,  (a)  The  contracts  between  the  railroads  and 
the  Pullman  company  as  to  Pullman  cars  created  such  close  relations 
between  them  as  to  increase  the  natural  sympathy  of  organization 
between  the  members  of  the  American  Railway  Union  upon  railroads 
and  their  brothers  at  Pullman.  It  is  also  apparent  that  the  readiness 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  questions  29  and  74;  preamble  and  resolution 
of  General  Managers'  Association,  adopted  June  25, 1894,  in  testimony  of  E.  St.  John; 
testimony  of  George  W.  Howard,  question  100;  testimony  of  Frank  T.  McDonald, 
question  14.  Other  witnesses  on  behalf  of  employees  give  testimony  of  a  like  char- 
acter. 


XL  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

to  strike  sympathetically  was  promoted  by  the  disturbed  and  apprehen- 
sive condition  of  railroad  employees  resulting  from  wage  reductions  on 
different  lines,  blacklisting,  etc.,  and  from  the  recent  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  General  Managers'  Association,  which  seemed  to  them  a 
menace.  («•)  Hence  therailroad  employees  were  ripe  to  espouse  thecause 
of  the  Pullman  strikers.  In  some  instances  they  struck  in  disregard 
of  existing  contracts  between  their  different  organizations  and  the  rail- 
roads, notably  upon  the  Illinois  Central.  They  evaded  the  responsi- 
bility of  their  organizations  for  this  conduct  by  claiming  to  act  as 
individuals.  They  justified  themselves  under  the  idea  of  balancing 
wrongs. 

After  June  26  the  officers  and  agents  of  the  union  managed  and 
urged  on  the  strike  at  every  available  point  upon  the  railroads  center- 
ing at  Chicago  until  it  reached  proportions  far  in  excess  of  their 
original  anticipations,  and  led  to  disorders  beyond  even  their  control. 
Urgent  solicitations  and  appeals  to  strike  and  to  stand  firm  continued 
in  the  many  public  meetings  held  each  day  in  and  about  Chicago,  and 
appear  in  the  telegrams  sent  about  the  country. 

On  July  7  the  principal  officers  of  the  American  Eailway  Union  were 
indicted,  arrested,  and  held  under  $10,000  bail.  Upon  July  13  they 
were  attached  for  contempt  of  the  United  States  court  in  disobeying 
an  injunction  issued  on  July  2  and  served  on  the  3d  and  4th,  enjoining 
them,  among  other  things,  from  compelling,  or  inducing  by  threats, 
intimidation,  persuasion,  force,  or  violence,  railroad  employees  to  refuse 
or  fail  to  perform  their  duties.  It  is  seriously  questioned,  and  with 
much  force,  whether  courts  have  jurisdiction  to  enjoin  citizens  from 
" persuading"  (b)  each  other  in  industrial  or  other  matters  of  common 
interest.  However,  it  is  generally  recognized  among  good  citizens 
that  a  mandate  of  a  court  is  to  be  obeyed  until  it  is  modified  and  cor- 
rected by  the  court  that  issued  it. 

ACTION   OF   FEDERATED   UNIONS. 

Upon  July  12,  at  the  request  of  the  American  Bailway  Union,  about 
25  of  the  executive  officers  of  national  and  international  labor  unions 
affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  met  at  Chicago.  The 
situation  was  laid  before  them.  The  conference  concluded  that  the 
strike  was  then  lost;  that  a  general  sympathetic  strike  throughout  the 
country  would  be  unwise  and  inexpedient,  and,  at  the  time,  against  the 
best  interests  of  labor.  This  conference  issued  a  strong  and  temperate 
address  to  members,  expressing  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  the 
American  Eailway  Union,  advising  those  on  strike  to  return  to  work, 
and  urging  that  labor  organize  more  generally,  combine  more  closely, 
and  seek  the  correction  of  industrial  evils  at  the  ballot  box.  To  some 


a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  pages  132  to  134. 

6  See  decision  of  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  in  re  P.  M.  Arthur  ct  al.  r.  Thomas  F.  Oakee  et 
al.  in  the  circuit  court  of  the  eastern  district  of  Wisconsin,  October  1,  1894. 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  XLI 

extent  the  trade  unions  of  Chicago  had  struck  in  sympathy,  but  this 
movement  was  checked  by  the  action  of  the  conference  of  the  iL'th  and 
extended  no  further.  This  action  indicates  clearer  views  by  labor  as 
to  its  responsibilities,  the  futility  of  strikes,  and  the  appropriate 
remedies  in  this  country  for  labor  wrongs. 

Upon  July  13  the  American  Railway  Union,  through  the  mayor  of 
Chicago,  sent  a  communication  to  the  General  Managers'  Association 
offering  to  declare  the  strike  off.  provided  the  men  should  be  restored 
to  their  former  positions  without  prejudice,  except  in  cases  where  they 
had  beeu  convicted  of  crime.  The  General  Managers'  Association  in 
advance  advertised  that  it  would  receive  no  communication  whatever 
from  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  when  received  returned  it 
unanswered.  With  reference  to  this,  John  M.  Egan,  strike,  manager  of 
the  General  Managers'  Association,  testified  as  follows: 

A  few  days  later  I  was  out  of  the  office  for  awhile,  and  on  my  return 
I  found  the  mayor  and  Alderman  McGillen  talking  to  Mr.  St.  John. 
I  went  into  the  room  and  Mr.  St.  John  told  me  the  mayor  had  come 
there  with  a  letter  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  American  Railway 
Union.  I  told  the  mayor  I  thought  he  should  not  have  permitted  him- 
self to  be  a  messenger  boy  for  those  parties,  and  that  I  further  consid- 
ered that  the  General  Managers'  Association  should  not  receive  any 
such  document.  The  document  was  left  there,  and  during  the  after- 
noon I  was  requested  to  take  the  document  back  to  the  mayor.  1 
endeavored  to  find  him,  but  found  he  had  gone  to  Kensington.  I 
endeavored  to  reach  him  by  telephone,  but,  as  it  was  growing  late  and 
1  could  not  locate  him,  I  took  the  document  back  to  the  city  hall  and 
pive  it  to  the  chief  of  police,  with  the  request  that  he  place  it  on  the 
mayor's  desk,  so  he  would  receive  it  early  the  next  morning.  I  wrote 
a  letter  in  which  I  stated  to  the  mayor  that  the  General  Managers' 
A  ssociatiou  did  not  consider  they  should  receive  any  such  document. 
On  my  return  to  the  office  I  was  able  to  locate  the  mayor  at  Kensing- 
ton, but  they  told  me  lie  had  retired  for  the  night,  but  I  telegraphed 
the  contents  of  the  letter,  with  a  request  to  the  party  who  received  it 
that  he  deliver  it  to  the  mayor  that  night.  That  is  all  I  know  about 
any  overtures. 

Q.  18.  Was  there  anything  in  the  document  itself  that  was  offensive 
or  insulting  to  you? — Ans.  The  document  was  printed  in  the  papers 
that  afternoon  and  the  next  morning,  and  I  think  it  speaks  for  itself. 

Q.  19.  Did  you  consider  it  offensive  or  insulting? — Ans.  I  considered 
that  any  party  who  attacked  railway  companies  as  the  American  Rail 
way  Union  had  done,  and  were  whipped,  as  I  considered  they  were,  it 
was  displaying  considerable  cheek  to  dictate  the  terms  of  their  surrender. 

Q.  20.  You  do  not  answer  my  question ;  I  asked  you  if  there  was  any- 
thing in  the  document  itself  that  was  offensive  or  insulting  to  you? — 
Ans.  I  don't  know  as  I  would  be  the  judge  of  that. 

Q.  21.  What  is  your  opinion  about  it? — Ans.  I  have  not  the  authority 
to  say  whether  it  was  insulting  to  the  general  managers  or  anything 
of  that  kind. 

Q.  22.  Did  you  return  it  on  that  account,  because  the  terms  of  the 
document  were  offensive  or  insulting  to  you  or  to  the  managers? — 
Ans.  Well,  the  managers  requested  it  to  be  returned. 

Q.  23.  Was  that  the  reason  you  returned  it? — Ans.  That  was  the 
reason  I  returned  it;  yes,  sir. 


XLII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

Q.  24.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  instead  of  being  offensive  in  its  character 
so  far  as  the  composition  was  concerned,  it  was  a  document  courteously 
composed  and  looking  toward  the  settlement  of  a  great  and  destructive 
strike  that  was  then  in  progress? — Ans.  Well,  as  I  said,  the  document 
speaks  for  itself.  I  considered  that  the  matter  was  settled  then,  prac 
tically. 

In  reply  to  this  Mayor  Hopkins  testified : 

I  want  to  say  in  this  connection  that  the  papers  quote  Mr.  Egan  as 
saying  in  his  testimony  that  he  told  the  mayor  he  should  not  lie  a  mes- 
senger boy  for  those  men.  1  want  to  say  emphatically  that  Mr.  Egan 
never  said  that  to  me;  I  don't  think  I  would  have  allowed  him  to  say  it. 

At  this  date,  July  13,  and  for  some  days  previous,  the  strikers  had  been 
virtually  beaten.  The  action  of  the  courts  deprived  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  of  leadership,  (a)  enabled  the  General  Managers'  Association 
to  disintegrate  its  forces,  and  to  make  inroads  into  its  ranks.  The  mobs- 
had  worn  out  their  fury,  or  had  succumbed  to  the  combined  forces  of  the 
police,  the  United  States  troops  and  marshals,  and  the  State  militia. 
The  railroads  were  gradually  repairing  damages  and  resuming  traffic 
with  the  aid  of  new  men  and  with  some  of  those  strikers  who  had  not 
been  offensively  active  or  whose  action  was  laid  to  intimidation  and 
fear.  At  this  juncture  the  refusal  of  the  General  Managers'  Asso- 
ciation to  treat  with  the  American  Railway  Union  was  certainly  not 
conciliatory;  it  was  not  unnatural,  however,  because  the  association 
charged  the  American  Railway  Union  with  having  inaugurated  an 
unjustifiable  strike,  laid  at  its  door  the  responsibility  for  all  the  disor- 
der and  destruction  that  had  occurred,  and,  as  the  victor  in  the  tight, 
desired  that  the  lesson  taught  to  labor  by  its  defeat  should  be  well 
learned. 

The  policy  of  both  the  Pullman  company  and  the  Railway  Managers' 
Association  in  reference  to  applications  to  arbitrate  closed  the  door  to 
all  attempts  at  conciliation  and  settlement  of  differences.  The  com- 
mission is  impressed  with  the  belief,  by  the  evidence  and  by  the 
attendant  circumstances  as  disclosed,  that  a  different  policy  would 
have  prevented  the  loss  of  life  and  great  loss  of  property  and  wages 
occasioned  by  the  strike. 

ACTION   OF    THE   GENERAL   MANAGERS'   ASSOCIATION  (b). 

On  June  22  an  officer  of  the  Pullman  company  met  the  general  man- 
agers by  invitation,  and  the  general  managers,  among  other  things, 
resolved : 

That  we  hereby  declare  it  to  be  the  lawful  right  and  duty  of  said 
railway  companies  to  protest  against  said  proposed  boycott;  to  resist 
the  same  in  the  interest  of  their  existing  contracts,  and  for  the  benefit 
of  the  traveling  public,  and  that  we  will  act  unitedly  to  that  end. 

a  See  testimony  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  questions  77  and  78. 

b  See  testimony  of  E.  St.  John,  page  250,  as  to  resolution  above  quoted  ;  as  to  the 
association  generally,  see  testimony  of  E.  St.  John,  pages  241  to  260;  also  see  testi- 
mony of  John  M.  Egan,  commencing  on  page  269. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XL1II 

From  June  22  until  the  practical  end  of  the  strike  the  General  Man- 
agers' Association  directed  and  controlled  the  contest  on  the  part  of  the 
railroads,  using  the  combined  resources  of  all  the  roads  to  support  the 
contentions  and  insure  the  protection  of  each.  On  June  20  we  find  in 
I  he  proceedings  of  the  association  the  following  statement: 

A  general  discussion  of  the  situation  followed.  It  was  suggested 
that  some  common  plan  of  action  ought  to  be  adopted  in  case  employees 
refused  to  do  switching  of  passenger  trains  with  Pullman  cars,  but  were 
willing  to  continue  all  of  their  other  work,  and  it  was  the  general  expres- 
sion that  in  case  any  man  refused  to  do  his  duty  he  would  be  discharged. 

Headquarters  were  established;  agencies  for  hiring  men  opened;  as 
the  men  arrived  they  were  cared  for  and  assigned  to  duty  upon  the 
different  lines:  a  bureau  was  started  to  furnish  information  to  the  press; 
the  lawyers  of  the  different  roads  were  called  into  conference  and  com- 
bination in  legal  and  criminal  proceedings;  the  general  managers  met 
daily  to  hear  reports  and  to  direct  proceedings;  constant  communica- 
tion was  kept  up  with  the  civil  and  military  authorities  as  to  the  move- 
ments and  assignments  of  police,  marshals,  and  troops,  (a)  Each  road  did 
tf  hat  it  could  with  its  operating  forces,  but  all  the  leadership,  direction, 
and  concentration  of  power,  resources,  and  influence  on  the  part  of  the 
railroads  were  centered  in  the  General  Managers'  Association.  That 
association  stood  for  each  and  all  of  its  24  combined  members,  and  all 
that  they  could  command,  in  fighting  and  crushing  the  strike. 

VIOLENCK    AND    DESTRUCTION    OF    PROPERTY     AND    MILITARY    PRO- 
CEEDINGS. 

The  figures  given  as  to  losses,  fatalities,  destruction  of  property,  and 
arrests  for  crime  tell  the  story  of  violence,  intimidation,  and  mob  rule 
better  than  it  can  be  described.  Chicago  is  a  vast  metropolis,  the  cen- 
ter of  an  activity  and  growth  unprecedented  in  history,  and  combining 
all  that  this  implies.  Its  lawless  elements  are  at  present  augmented 
by  shiftless  adventurers  and  criminals  attracted  to  it  by  the  Expo- 
sition and  impecuniously  stranded  in  its  midst.  In  the  mobs  were  also 
actively  present  many  of  a  certain  class  of  objectionable  foreigners,  who 
are  being  precipitated  upon  us  by  unrestricted  immigration.  No  more 
dangerous  place  for  such  a  strike  could  be  chosen. 

The  strike,  as  a  strike  and  as  is  usual  with  strikes,  presented  an 
opportunity  to  these  elements  to  burn  and  plunder,  and  to  violate  the 
laws  and  ordinances  of  the  city,  State,  and  nation.  Superintendent  of 
Police  IJrennan  swears  as  follows: 

On  the  2(ith  of  June  the  mayor  directed  me  to  use  the  whole  police 
force  in  preserving  the  peace,  protecting  property,  and  preventing  vio 
lence,  and  from  that  time  on  until  the  arrival  of  the  troops  I  think  I  suc- 
ceeded pretty  well.    So  far  as  I  understand,  there  bad  not   been  very 
much  violence  or  depredations  committed  prior  to  the  3d  of  July,  when 

a  See  testimony  of  John  M.  F.gan,  question  4. 


XLIV  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

the  troops  arrived.  At  that  time  the  indications  looked  lad  and  the 
arrival  of  the  troops,  I  think,  teas  opportune. 

Q.  7.  Why  do  you  say  the  situation  was  threatening  then? — Ans.  At 
that  time  my  police  force  had  been  on  duty  constantly  for  nine  or  ten 
days  and  the  calls  from  the  railway  companies  were  so  numerous  and 
became  so  frequent  that  it  more  than  absorbed  the  whole  police  depart- 
ment to  supply  all  calls  and  demands.  I  had,  at  that  time,  3,000  or  3,100 
men  in  service,  and  every  one  of  them  was  engaged  in  that  particular 
business  of  preventing  violence. 

Q.  8.  Did  you  have  to  keep  part  of  that  force  in  other  portions  of  the 
city? — Ans.  Yes,  sir;  this  trouble  extended  all  over  the  city;  this  city 
is  practically  a  network  of  railways,  and  the  territory  being  quite  large — 
about  195  square  miles,  I  believe — and  to  cover  that  territory,  which  is 
filled  with  railway  tracks,  yards,  towers,  switch  houses,  and  freight 
houses,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  it  would  absorb  the  whole  police 
force. 

This  appears  to  be  a  correct  statement  of  the  situation  prior  to  July 
3.  The  police  force  of  Chicago,  including  the  reserves,  is  not  more 
than  sufficient  for  the  protection  of  the  city  under  normal  conditions, 
and  it  was  during  the  strike  placed  under  excessiveand  unusual  strain. 
As  a  body,  the  police  were  courageous  and  efficient.  We  have  in  the 
evidence  the  authority  of  railroads  for  this  statement.  Some  railroads 
charged  the  police  with  inefficiency  and  with  failing  to  discharge  their 
duties  through  sympathy  with  strikers.  These  charges  have  not  been 
proved.  The  mayor  directed  suspension  and  discharge  for  any  such 
cause,  and  some  suspensions  occurred  on  charges,  but  investigation  dis- 
closed no  evidence  to  sustain  them.  The  disorders  at  Blue  Island  were 
outside  the  city  of  Chicago.  Appropriate  orders  for  the  police  to  coop- 
erate with  the  troops  were  issued.  That  policemen  sympathized  with 
strikers  rather  than  with  the  corporations  can  not  be  doubted,  nor 
would  it  be  surprising  to  find  the  same  sentiment  rife  among  the  mili- 
tary. These  forces  are  largely  recruited  from  the  laboring  classes. 
Indeed,  the  danger  is  growing  that  in  strike  wars  between  corporations 
and  employees,  military  duty  will  ultimately  have  to  be  done  by  others 
than  volunteers  from  labor  ranks. 

The  military  and  police  confined  themselves  to  their  duty  of  arrest- 
ing criminals,  dispersing  mobs,  and  guarding  property.  United  States 
deputy  marshals,  to  the  number  of  3,GOO,  were  selected  by  and  appointed 
at  request  of  the  General  Managers'  Association,  and  of  its  railroads.  («) 
They  were  armed  and  paid  by  the  railroads,  and  acted  in  the  double 
capacity  of  railroad  employees  and  United  States  officers.  While  oper- 
ating the  railroads  they  assumed  and  exercised  unrestricted  United 
States  authority  when  so  ordered  by  their  employers,  or  whenever  they 
regarded  it  as  necessary.  They  were  not  under  the  direct  control  of 
any  Government  official  while  exercising  authority.  This  is  placing 

a.  See  testimony  of  John  M.  Egan,  questions  4,  and  8  to  12  inclusive;  testimony  of 
E.  St.  John,  page  233;  testimony  of  Deputy  United  States  Marshal  Donnelly,  ques- 
tions 2  to  7  inclusive,  and  22  to  28  inclusive. 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLV 

officers  of  the  Government  under  control  of  a  combination  of  railroads. 
It  is  a  bad  precedent,  that  might  well  lead  to  serious  consequences. 

There  is  no  evidence  before  the  commission  that  the  officers  of  the 
American  Bailway  Union  at  any  time  participated  in  or  advised  intimi- 
dation, violence,  or  destruction  of  property.  They  knew  and  fully 
appreciated  that  as  soon  as  mobs  ruled  the  organized  forces  of  society 
would  crush  the  mobs  and  all  responsible  for  them  in  the  remotest 
degree,  and  that  this  meant  defeat.  The  attacks  upon  corporations 
and  monopolies  by  the  leaders  in  their  speeches  are  similar  to  those  to 
be  found  in  the  magazines  and  industrial  works  of  the  day. 

Much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  following  dispatch,  which  Mr. 
Debs  denies  sending.  It  went,  however,  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
union,  and  that  body  is  responsible  for  whatever  it  means: 

CHICAGO,  July  2,  1894. 
To  COURTHEAD,  South  Butte,  Mont.: 

The  G.  M.  are  weakening.  If  strike  not  settled  in  forty-eight  hours 
complete  paralysis  will  follow.  Potatoes  and  ice  out  of  sight.  Save 
your  money  and  buy  a  gun. 

E.  V.  DEBS. 

The  union  insists  that  a  young  clerk  named  Benedict  sent  this  dis- 
patch to  a  friend;  that  the  expression  "buy  a  gun"  was  one  used 
between  them  and  had  no  reference  to  the  strike.  Nothing  like  this 
is  found  elsewhere  among  the  dispatches  before  the  commission. 

The  participation  of  strikers  in  riotous  proceedings  is  another  and 
more  serious  matter.  As  to  this,  the  commission  has  before  it  not 
only  the  evidence  of  parties  interested  for  or  against  the  strikers,  but 
a  vast  amount  of  testimony  from  disinterested  sources.  Among  these 
are  the  mayor  and  the  officials  of  the  police  and  fire  departments  of 
Chicago  and  the  reporters  of  the  newspapers  of  that  city  representing 
all  shades  of  opinion  as  to  the  strike  question.  These  latter  witnesses 
were  in  the  midst  of  the  occurrences  from  day  to  day  and  observed 
events  with  keenly  trained  faculties.  From  this  testimony  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  strikers  were  concerned  in  the  outrages  against  law 
and  order,  although  the  number  was  undoubtedly  small  as  compared 
with  the  whole  number  out.  The  strikers'  experience  and. training 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  spiking  and  misplacing  of  switches,  removing 
rails,  crippling  of  interlocking  systems,  the  detaching,  side  tracking, 
and  derailing  of  cars  and  engines,  placing  of  coupling  pins  in  engine 
machinery,  blockading  tracks  with  cars,  and  attempts  to  detach  and 
run  in  mail  cars.  The  commission  is  of  opinion  that  offenses  of  this 
character,  as  well  as  considerable  threatening  and  intimidation  of  those 
taking  strikers'  places,  were  committed  or  instigated  by  strikers. 

The  mobs  that  took  possession  of  railroad  yards,  tracks,  and  cross- 
ings after  July  3,  and  that  stoned,  tipped  over,  burned,  and  destroyed 
cars  and  stole  their  contents,  were,  by  general  concurrence  in  the  tes- 
timony, composed  generally  of  hoodlums,  women,  a  low  class  of  for- 


XL VI  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

eigners,  and  recruits  from  the  criminal  classes.  Few  strikers  were 
recognized  or  arrested  in  these  mobs,  which  were  without  leadership, 
and  seemed  simply  bent  upon  plunder  and  destruction.  They  gathered 
wherever  opportunity  offered  for  their  dastardly  work,  and,  as  a  rule, 
broke  and  melted  away  when  force  faced  them.  In  the  view  that  this 
railroad  strike  was  wrong;  that  such  mobs  are  well  known  to  be  inci- 
dental to  strikes,  and  are  thereby  given  an  excuse  and  incentive  to 
gather  and  to  commit  crime,  the  responsibility  rests  largely  with  the 
American  Kailway  Union;  otherwise  that  association,  its  leaders,  and 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  railroad  men  on  strike  are  not  shown  to 
have  had  any  connection  therewith.  Labor  advocates  contend  that 
strikes  are  the  last  resort;  that  they  are  the  industrial  war  measures 
of  labor  to  assert  and  obtain  the  rights  which  humanity,  morality,  and 
changed  conditions  demand;  that  labor  can  not  otherwise  arouse  inter- 
est in  its  demands,  and  that,  hence,  labor  is  no  more  responsible  for  the 
public  disorders  and  calamities  that  attend  strikes  than  are  the  employ- 
ers who  provoke  them.  Many  impartial  observers  are  reaching  the 
view  that  much  of  the  real  responsibility  for  these  disorders  rests  with 
the  people  themselves  and  with  the  Government  for  not  adequately 
controlling  monopolies  and  corporations,  and  for  failing  to  reasonably 
protect  the  rights  of  labor  and  redress  its  wrongs.  None  assert  that 
laws  can  completely  remedy  contentions  as  to  wages,  etc.,  but  many  do 
insist  that  something  substantial  can  be  accomplished  in  this  direction 
if  attempted  honestly,  reasonably,  and  in  good  faith. 

CONCLUSIONS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Thecommission  has  tried  to  fmdthedrift  of  public  opinion  astostrikes, 
boycotts,  and  labor  disputes  upon  railroads,  and  to  find  their  remedy. 
The  invitation  freely  extended  in  this  direction  has  brought  before  the 
commission  many  expressions  of  views,  orally  and  by  written  communi- 
cations. A  condensation  of  these  latter  is  presented  with  this  report. 
In  reaching  its  conclusions  the  commission  has  endeavored,  after  care- 
ful consideration,  to  give  due  weight  to  the  many  suggestions  and  argu- 
ments presented.  It  is  encouraging  to  find  general  concurrence,  even 
among  labor  leaders,  in  condemning  strikes,  boycotts,  and  lockouts  as 
barbarisms  unfit  for  the  intelligence  of  this  age,  and  as,  economically  con- 
sidered, very  injurious  and  destructive  forces.  Whether  won  or  lost  is 
broadly  immaterial.  They  are  war — internecine  war — and  call  for  prog- 
ress to  a  higher  plane  of  education  and  intelligence  in  adjusting  the  rela- 
tions of  capital  and  labor.  These  barbarisms  waste  the  products  of  both 
capital  and  labor,  defy  law  and  order,  disturb  society,  intimidate  capi- 
tal, convert  industrial  paths  where  there  ought  to  be  plenty  into  high- 
ways of  poverty  and  crime,  bear  as  their  fruit  the  arrogant  flush  of 
victory  and  the  humiliating  sting  of  defeat,  and  lead  to  preparations 
for  greater  and  more  destructive  conflicts.  Since  nations  have  grown 
to  the  wisdom  of  avoiding  disputes  by  conciliation,  and  even  of  settling 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLVII 

them  by  arbitration,  why  should  capital  and  labor  in  their  dependence 
upon  each  other  persist  in  rutting  each  other's  throats  as  a  settlement  of 
differences?  Official  reports  show  that  much  progress  has  been  made  in 
tlie  more  sane  direction  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  even  in  America. 
Abroad  they  are  in  advance  of  us  in  this  policy.  Were  our  population 
as  dense  and  opportunities  as  limited  as  abroad,  present  industrial 
conditions  would  keep  us  much  more  disturbed  than  we  now  are  by 
contests  between  capital  and  labor. 

In  England,  prior  to  1824,  it  was  conspiracy  and  felony  for  labor  to 
unite  for  purposes  now  regarded  there  by  all  classes  as  desirable  for 
the  safety  of  the  Government,  of  capital,  and  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  labor.  All  industrial  labor  is  there,  as  a  rule,  covered  by 
unions  trained  to  greater  conservatism  through  many  disastrous  con- 
flicts under  harsh  conditions  and  surroundings.  Capital  abroad  pre- 
fers to  deal  with  these  unions  rather  than  with  individuals  or  mobs, 
and  from  their  joint  efforts  in  good  faith  at  conciliation  and  arbitra- 
tion much  good  and  many  peaceful  days  have  resulted.  In  fifteen  of 
our  States  arbitration  in  various  forms  is  now  provided  bylaw;  the 
United  States  and  eleven  States  have  sanctioned  labor  organizations 
by  statute.  Some  of  our  courts,  however,  are  still  poring  over  the  law 
reports  of  antiquity  in  order  to  construe  conspiracy  out  of  labor  unions. 
We  also  have  employers  who  obstruct  progress  by  perverting  and  mis- 
applying the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  and  who,  while  insisting  upon 
individualism  for  workmen,  demand  that  they  shall  be  let  alone  to 
combine  as  they  please  and  that  society  and  all  its  forces  shall  protect 
them  in  their  resulting  contentions. 

The  general  sentiment  of  employers,  shared  in  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  railroad  representatives  we  have  heard,  is  now  favorable  to 
organization  among  employees.  («)  It  results  in  a  clearer  presentation 
and  calmer  discussion  of  differences,  instils  mutual  respect  and  forbear- 
ance, brings  out  the  essentials,  and  eliminates  misunderstandings  and 
immaterial  matters.  To  an  ordinary  observer,  argument  to  sustain  the 
justice  and  necessity  of  labor  unions  and  unity  of  action  by  laborers  is 
superfluous. 

The  rapid  concentration  of  power  and  wealth,  under  stimulating  legis- 
lative conditions,  in  persons,  corporations,  and  monopolies  has  greatly 
changed  the  business  and  industrial  situation.  Our  railroads  were 
chartered  upon  the  theory  that  their  competition  would  amply  protect 
shippers  as  to  rates,  etc.,  and  employees  as  to  wages  and  other  conditions. 
Combination  has  largely  destroyed  this  theory,  and  has  seriously  dis- 
turbed the  natural  working  of  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  which, 
in  theory,  are  based  upon  competition  for  labor  between  those  who 
"  demand"  it  as  well  as  among  those  who  supply  it.  The  interstate 
commerce  act  and  railroad-commission  legislation  in  over  thirty  States 
are  simply  efforts  of  the  people  to  free  themselves  from  the  results  of 

a  See  testimony  of  Albert  W.  Sullivan,  questions  42  to  52  inclusive. 


XLVIII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

this  destruction  of  competition  by  combination.  Labor  is  likewise 
affected  by  this  progressive  combination.  While  competition  among 
railroad  employers  of  labor  is  gradually  disappearing,  competition 
among  those  who  supply  labor  goes  on  with  increasing  severity. 
For  instance,  as  we  have  shown,  there  is  no  longer  any  competitive 
demand  among  the  24  railroads  at  Chicago  for  switchmen.  They  have 
ceased  competing  with  each  other;  they  are  no  longer  24  separate  and 
competing  employers;  they  are  virtually  one.  To  be  sure,  this  combi- 
nation has  not  covered  the  whole  field  of  labor  supply  as  yet,  but  it  is 
constantly  advancing  in  that  direction.  Competition  for  switchmen's 
labor  still  continues  with  outside  employers,  among  whom,  again,  we 
find  a  like  tendency  to  eliminate  competitive  demand  for  labor  by 
similar  combination.  In  view  of  this  progressive  perversion  of  the  laws 
of  supply  and  demand  by  capital  and  changed  conditions,  no  man  can 
well  deny  the  right  nor  dispute  the  wisdom  of  unity  for  legislative  and 
protective  purposes  among  those  who  supply  labor. 

However  men  may  differ  about  the  propriety  and  legality  of  labor 
unions,  we  must  all  recognize  the  fact  that  we  have  them  with  us  to 
stay  and  to  grow  more  numerous  and  powerful.  Is  it  not  wise  to  fully 
recognize  them  by  law;  to  admit  their  necessity  as  labor  guides  and 
protectors,  to  conserve  their  usefulness,  increase  their  responsibility, 
and  to  prevent  their  follies  and  aggressions  by  conferring  upon  them 
the  privileges  enjoyed  by  corporations,  with  like  proper  restrictions  and 
regulations?  The  growth  of  corporate  power  and  wealth  has  been  the 
marvel  of  the  past  fifty  years.  Corporations  have  undoubtedly  bene 
fited  the  country  and  brought  its  resources  to  our  doors.  It  will  not  be 
surprising  if  the  marvel  of  the  next  fifty  years  be  the  advancement  of 
labor  to  a  position  of  like  power  and  responsibility.  We  have  hereto- 
fore encouraged  the  one  and  comparatively  neglected  the  other.  Does 
not  wisdom  demand  that  each  be  encouraged  to  prosper  legitimately 
and  to  grow  into  harmonious  relations  of  equal  standing  and  responsi- 
bility before  the  law?  This  involves  nothing  hostile  to  the  true  inter- 
ests and  rights  of  either. 

A  broad  range  of  remedies  is  presented  to  the  commission  as  to  the 
best  means  of  adjusting  these  controversies,  such  as  Government  con- 
trol or  ownership  of  railroads;  compulsory  arbitration ;  licensing  of 
employees;  the  single- tax  theory;  restriction  of  immigration  and  exclu- 
sion of  pauper  labor;  protection  of  American  industries;  monetary 
legislation;  suppression  of  trusts  and  combinations;  written  contracts 
requiring  due  notice  of  discharge  by  employers  and  of  leaving  service 
by  employees;  United  States  labor  commission  to  investigate  and  fix 
hours  of  labor,  rates  of  wages,  etc.;  a  fixed  labor  unit;  authority  to 
courts  to  settle  these  questions ;  insurance  departments  and  pensioning 
of  employees ;  fixing  hours  of  labor  and  minimum  rates  of  wages  by 
statute;  change  in  law  of  liability  of  master  to  servant;  and  various 
suggestions  for  relief,  outside  of  any  legislative  action,  through  educa- 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  XLIX 

tiniial  methods  tending  to  the  inculcation  of  mutual  forbearance  and 
just  consideration  of  each  other's  rights  in  the  premises. 

The  commission  deems  recommendations  of  specific  remedies  prema- 
ture. Such  a  problem,  for  instance,  as  universal  Government  owner- 
ship of  railroads  is  too  vast,  many-sided,  and  far  away,  if  attempted,  to 
be  considered  as  an  immediate,  practical  remedy.  It  belongs  to  the 
socialistic  group  of  public  questions  where  Government  ownership  is 
advocated  of  monopolies,  such  as  telegraphs,  telephones,  express  com- 
panies, and  municipal  ownership  of  waterworks,  gas  and  electric 
lighting,  and  street  railways.  These  questions  are  pressing  more 
urgently  as  time  goes  on.  They  need  to  be  well  studied  and  consid- 
ered in  every  aspect  by  all  citizens.  Should  continued  combinations 
and  consolidations  result  in  half  a  dozen  or  less  ownerships  of  our  rail- 
roads within  a  few  years,  as  is  by  no  means  unlikely,  the  question  of 
Government  ownership  will  be  forced  to  the  front,  and  we  need  to  be 
ready  to  dispose  of  it  intelligently.  As  combination  goes  on  there 
will  certainly  at  least  have  to  be  greater  Government  regulation  and 
control  of  quasi-public  corporations  than  we  have  now. 

Whenever  a  nation  or  a  state  finds  itself  in  such  relation  to  a  rail- 
road that  its  investments  therein  must  be  either  lost  or  protected  by 
ownership,  would  it  not  be  wise  that  the  road  be  taken  and  the  experi- 
ment be  tried  as  an  object  lesson  in  Government  ownership?  The 
Massachusetts  Railroad  Commission,  which  is  noted  for  its  eminent, 
services  as  a  conservative  pioneer  in  the  direction  of  Government  con- 
trol of  railroads  through  the  force  of  public  opinion,  for  several  years 
urged  that  the  experiment  of  State  ownership  be  tried  with  the  Fitch- 
burg  system,  because  of  the  large  State  investment  in  the  Hoosac  Tun- 
nel. We  need  to  fear  everything  revolutionary  and  wrong,  but  we 
need  fear  nothing  that  any  nation  can  successfully  attempt  in  direc- 
tions made  necessary  by  changed  economic  or  industrial  conditions. 
Other  nations  under  their  conditions  own  and  operate  telegraphs  and 
railroads  with  varying  results.  Whether  it  is  practicable  for  this 
nation  to  do  so  successfully  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  save  an 
investment  or  when  the  people  determine  it  shall  be  done,  is  an  open 
and  serious  question  which  can  not  be  answered  fully  except  by  actual 
experiment. 

\\ f  ought  now  to  inaugurate  a  permanent  system  of  investigation 
into  the  relations  between  railroads  and  employees  in  order  to  prepare 
to  deal  with  them  intelligently,  and  that  we  may  conservatively  adopt 
such  remedies  as  are  sustained  by  public  opinion  for  defects  or  wrongs 
that  may  from  time  to  time  appear.  In  the  long  contest  between  ship- 
]»ers  and  railroads  penal  and  specific  legislation  proved  inadequate. 
The  lessons  of  this  period  of  legislation  need  to  be  well  remembered 
by  labor.  Hasty,  revengeful,  and  retaliatory  legislation  injures  every 
interest,  benefits  nobody,  and  can  not  long  be  enforced. 

The  question  of  the  right  of  Congress  to  legislate  in  regard  to  the 
8.  Ex.  7 iv 


L  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

conditions  of  employment  and  service  upon  railroads  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  is  a  most  important  one,  and  the  right  seems  by  analogy 
to  exist.  Similar  power  as  to  rates,  discriminations,  poolings,  etc.,  has 
been  exercised  in  the  act  to  regulate  commerce,  and  lias  been  sus- 
tained by  the  courts.  The  position  of  railroads  as  quasi-public  cor- 
porations subjects  them  and  their  employees  to  this  power,  and  imposes 
its  exercise  upon  Congress  aa  a  duty,  whenever  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  the  people.  The  question  of  what  shall  be  done  is  there- 
fore one  of  expediency  and  not  of  power.  When  railroads  acted  as 
udge  and  jury  in  passing  upon  the  complaints  of  shippers,  the  people 
demanded  and  Congress  granted  a  Government  tribunal  where  ship- 
pers and  railroads  could  meet  on  equal  terms  and  have  the  law  adjust 
their  differences.  In  view  of  the  Chicago  strike  and  its  suggested 
dangers,  the  people  have  the  same  right  to  provide  a  Government  com- 
mission to  investigate  and  report  upon  differences  between  railroads  and 
their  employees,  to  theendthat  interstate  commerce  and  publicorder  may 
be  less  disturbed  by  strikes  and  boycotts.  Public  opinion,  enlightened 
by  the  hearings  before  such  a  commission,  will  do  much  toward  settling 
many  difficulties  without  strikes,  and  in  strikes  will  intelligently  sustain 
the  side  of  right  and  justice  and  often  compel  reasonable  adjust- 
ments. Experience,  however,  has  taught  that  public  opinion  is  not 
alone  powerful  enough  to  control  railroads.  Hence  power  to  review  and 
enforce  the  just  and  lawful  decisions  of  the  commission  against  rail- 
roads ought  to  be  vested  in  the  United  States  courts.  There  can  be  no 
valid  objection  to  this  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  now  dealing 
simply  with  quasi-public  corporations  and  not  with  either  individuals 
or  private  corporations.  What  is  safe  and  proper  as  to  the  former 
might  be  unsafe  and  unjust  for  the  latter.  That  which  is  done  under 
the  act  to  regulate  commerce  as  to  rates  can  safely  and  ought  properly 
to  be  done  as  to  railroad  wages,  etc.,  by  a  commission  and  the  courts. 

Some  stability  and  time  for  conciliation  and  amicable  adjustment  of 
disputes  can  also  be  secured  by  providing  that  labor  unions  shall  not 
strike  pending  hearings  which  they  seek ;  and  that  railroads  shall  not 
discharge  men  except  for  cause  during  hearings,  and  for  a  reasonable 
time  thereafter.  A  provision  may  well  be  added  requiring  employees 
during  the  same  period  to  give  thirty  days'  notice  of  quitting  and  for- 
bidding their  unions  from  ordering  or  advising  otherwise. 

Many  assert  with  force  that  no  law  can  be  justly  devised  to  compel 
employers  and  employees  to  accept  the  decisions  of  tribunals  in  wage 
disputes.  It  is  insisted  that  while  the  employer  can  readily  be  made 
to  pay  under  an  arbitration  decision  more  than  is  or  than  he  thinks  is 
right,  the  employee  can  not  practically  be  made  to  work.  He  can  quit, 
or  at  least  force  his  discharge,  when  the  decision  gives  him  less  than 
he  demands.  Hence  nothing  reciprocal  can  be  devised,  and  without 
that  element  it  is  urged  that  nothing  just  can  be  enacted  of  a  compul- 
sory nature.  This  may  be  true  in  general  industries,  but  it  has  less 


CHICAGO   STRIKE.  LI 

weight  as  between  railroads  and  their  labor.  Railroads  have  not  the 
inherent  rights  of  employers  engaged  in  private  business;  they  are 
creatures  of  the  state,  whose  rights  are  conferred  upon  them  for  public 
purposes,  and,  hence,  the  right  and  duty  of  Government  to  compel  them 
to  <!<>  in  every  respect  what  public  interest  demands  are  clear  and  free 
from  embarrassment.  It  is  certainly  for  the  public  interest  that  rail- 
roads  shall  not  abandon  transportation  because  of  labor  disputes,  and. 
therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  have  them  accept  the 
decision  of  its  tribunals,  even  though  complete  reciprocal  obligations 
can  not  be  imposed  upon  labor.  The  absence  of  such  reciprocal  obli- 
gations would  rarely  affect  railroads  unjustly,  if  we  regard  the  question 
in  a  practical  light. 

Railroad  employment  is  attractive  and  is  sought  for.  There  has 
never  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  railroads  when  men  did  not  stand 
ready  to  fill  a  labor  vacancy  at  the  wages  fixed  by  the  roads.  The 
number  is  constantly  increasing.  If  railroads  can  thus  always  get  the 
men  that  they  need  at  what  they  otter,  is  there  any  doubt  that  the 
supply  will  be  ample  at  any  rates  fixed  by  a  commission  and  thecourtst 
A  provision  as  to  notice  of  quitting,  after  a  decision,  would  be  ample 
to  enable  railroads  to  fill  vacancies  caused  in  their  labor  departments 
by  dissatisfaction  with  decisions.  To  go  further,  under  present  con- 
ditions, at  least,  in  coercing  employees  to  obey  tribunals  in  selling  their 
labor  would  be  a  dangerous  encroachment  upon  the  inherent,  inaliena- 
ble right  to  work  or  quit,  as  they  please. 

When  railroad  employees  secure  greater  certainty  of  their  positions 
and  of  the  right  to  promotion,  compensation  for  injury,  etc.,  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  consider  such  strict  regulation  for  them  as  we  can  now 
justly  apply  to  railroads,  whose  rights  are  protected  by  laws  and 
guarded  by  all  the  advantages  of  greater  resources  and  more  concen- 
trated control. 

In  solving  these  questions,  corporations  seldom  aid  the  efforts  of  the 
people  or  their  legislators.  Fear  of  change  and  the  threatened  loss  of 
some  power  invariably  make  them  obstructionists.  They  do  not  desire 
to  be  dealt  with  by  any  legislation ;  they  simply  want  to  be  let  alone, 
confident  in  their  ability  to  protect  themselves.  Whatever  is  right  to 
be  done  by  statutes  must  be  done  by  the  people  for  their  own  protec- 
tion, and  to  meet  the  just  demand  that  railroad  labor  shall  have  public 
and  impartial  hearing  of  all  grievances. 

The  commission  does  not  pretend  to  present  a  specific  solution  of  these 
questions.  Its  effort  is  simply  to  present  the  facts ;  to  point  oat  that 
the  relations  of  capital  and  labor  are  so  disturbed  as  to  urgently  demand 
the  attention  of  all  thinking  and  patriotic  citizens;  to  suggest  a 
line  of  search  for  practical  remedial  legislation  which  may  be  followed 
with  safety,  and,  finally,  to  urge  and  invite  labor  and  railroads  to  hearty 
cooperation  with  the  Government  and  the  people  in  efforts  to  substi- 
tute law  and  reason  in  labor  disputes  for  the  dangers,  sufferings, 


LII  CHICAGO    STRIKE. 

uncertainties,   and  wide-spread   calamities  incident  to  strikes,  boy- 
cotts, and  lockouts. 

To  secure  prompt  and  efficient  data  for  the  formation  of  correct 
public  sentiment  in  accordance  with  this  line  of  thought,  the  commission 
contends  that  law  should  make  it  obligatory  upon  some  public  tribunal 
promptly  to  intervene  by  means  of  investigation  and  conciliation,  and 
to  report  whenever  a  difficulty  of  the  character  of  that  occurring  dur- 
ing the  past  season  at  Chicago  arises.  This  intervention  should  be 
provided  for,  first,  when  the  tribunal  is  called  upon  to  interfere  by 
both  of  the  parties  involved;  second,  when  called  upon  by  either  of  the 
parties,  and,  third,  when  in  its  own  judgment  it  sees  fit  to  intervene. 
The  proper  tribunal  should  have  the  right,  in  other  words,  to  set 
itself  in  motion,  and  rapidly,  too,  whenever  in  its  judgment  the  public 
is  sustaining  serious  inconvenience.  If  the  public  can  only  be  edu 
cated  out  of  the  belief  that  force  is  and  must  always  remain  the  basis 
of  the  settlement  of  every  industrial  controversy,  the  problem  becomes 
simplified.  A  tribunal,  however,  should  not  intervene  in  mere  quar- 
rels between  employer  and  employed,  unless  the  public  peace  or  con- 
venience is  involved ;  but  where  it  is  a  clear  case  of  public  obstruction, 
whether  caused  by  individuals  or  by  a  corporation,  a  tribunal  should 
not  wait  until  called  on  by  outside  agencies  to  act.  All  parties 
concerned  should  be  notified  that  the  tribunal  proposes,  upon  a 
certain  day — and  the  earlier  the  day  the  better — to  be  at  a  given 
place,  there  to  look  into  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  to  adjust  the  difficul- 
ties by  conciliation,  if  possible,  and,  in  the  event  of  failure,  to  fix  the 
responsibility  for  the  same.  Proceeding  in  this  way  the  report  of  such 
a  commission  would  cause  public  opinion  promptly  to  settle  the  ques- 
tion, or,  at  least,  to  fix  the  responsibility  where  it  belonged,  and  to 
render  successful  opposition  to  the  conclusions  reached  an  improba- 
bility. To  carry  out  this  idea  involves  no  complicated  legislation. 

As  authorized  by  statute,  the  commission  has  decided  upon  certain 
recommendations  and  certain  suggestions,  growing  out  of  its  study  of 
the  Chicago  strike  and  boycott.  These  recommendations  and  sugges- 
tions are  upon  three  lines:  First,  for  Congressional  actio'n;  second,  for 
State  action ;  and  third,  for  the  action  of  corporations  and  labor  organ- 
izations. It  readily  sees  the  impropriety  to  a  certain  extent  of  making 
any  recommendation  for  State  action,  yet  feels  it  a  duty,  as  a  result 
of  its  investigations,  to  make  such  suggestions  as  will  enable  citizens 
interested  in  State  legislation  to  benefit  by  its  experience,  and  also  to 
make  such  suggestions  to  corporations  and  labor  organizations  as  shall 
tend  to  harmonize  some  of  the  existing  difficulties.  The  commission 
therefore  recommends : 


(1)  That  there  be  a  permanent  United  States  strike  commission 
of  three  members,  with  duties  and  powers  of  investigation  and 
recommendation  as  to  disputes  between  railroads  and  their  employees 


CHICAGO    STRIKE.  LIU 

similar  to  those  vested  in  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  as  to 
rates,  etc. 

a.  That,  as  in  the  interstate  commerce  act,  power  be  given  to  the 
United  States  courts  to  compel  railroads  to  obey  the  decisions  of  the 
commission,  after  summary  hearing  unattended  by  technicalities,  and 
that  no  delays  in  obeying  the  decisions  of  the  commission  be  allowed 
pending  appeals. 

b.  That,  whenever  the  parties  to  a  controversy  in  a  matter  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  commission  are  one  or  more  railroads  upon  one  side 
and  one  or  more  national  trade  unions,  incorporated  under  chapter  567 
of  the  United  States  Statutes  of  1883-86,  or  under  State  statutes,  upon 
the  other,  each  side  shall  have  the  right  to  select  a  representative,  who 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  to  serve  as  a  temporary  member  of 
the  commission  in  hearing,  adjusting,  and  determining  that  particular 
controversy. 

(This  provision  would  make  it  for  the  interest  of  labor  organizations 
to  incorporate  under  the  law  and  to  make  the  commission  a  practical 
board  of  conciliation.  It  would  also  tend  to  create  confidence  in  the 
commission,  and  to  give  to  that  body  in  every  hearing  the  benefit  of 
practical  knowledge  of  the  situation  upon  both  sides.) 

c.  That,  during  the  pendency  of  a  proceeding  before  the  commission 
inaugurated    by  national  trade  unions,  or   by  an    incorporation  of 
employees,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  railroads  to  discharge  employees 
belonging  thereto  except  for  inefficiency,  violation  of  law,  or  neglect  of 
duty;  nor  for  such  unions  or  incorporation  during  such  pendency  to 
order,  unite  in,  aid,  or  abet  strikes  or  boycotts  against  the  railroads 
complained  of;  nor,  for  a  period  of  six  months  after  a  decision,  for  such 
railroads  to  discharge  any  such  employees  in  whose  places  others  shall 
be  employed,  except  for  the  causes  aforesaid ;  nor  for  any  such  employees, 
during  a  like  period,  to  quit  the  service  without  giving  thirty  days' 
written  notice  of  intention  to  do  so,  nor  for  any  such  union  or  incor- 
poration to  order,  counsel,  or  advise  otherwise. 

(2)  That  chapter  567  of  the  United  States  Statutes  of  1885-86  be 
amended  so  as  to  require  national  trade  unions  to  provide  in  their  arti- 
cles of  incorporation,  and  in  their  constitutions,  rules,  and  by-laws  that 
a  member  shall  cease  to  be  such  and  forfeit  all  rights  and  privileges 
conferred  on  him  by  law  as  such  by  participating  in  or  by  instigating 
force  or  violence  against  persons  or  property  during  strikes  or  boycotts, 
or  by  seeking  to  prevent  others  from  working  through  violence,  threats, 
or  intimidations;  also,  that  members  shall  be  no  more  personally  liable 
for  corporate  acts  than  are  stockholders  in  corporations. 

(3)  The  commission  does  not  feel  warranted,  with  the  study  it  has 
been  able  to  give  to  the  subject,  to  recommend  positively  the  establish- 
ment of  a  license  system  by  which  all  the  higher  employees  or  others  of 
railroads  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  should  be  licensed  after  due 
and  proper  examination,  but  it  would  recommend,  and  most  urgently, 


LIV  CHICAGO   STRIKE. 

that  this  subject  be  carefully  and  fully  considered  by  the  proper  com- 
mittee of  Congress.  Many  railroad  employees  and  some  railroad  officials 
examined  and  many  others  who  have  filed  their  suggestions  in  writing 
with  the  commission  are  in  favor  of  some  snch  system.  It  involves  too 
many  complications,  however,  for  the  commission  to  decide  upon  the 
exact  plan,  if  any,  which  should  be  adopted. 

II. 

(1)  The  commission  would  suggest  the  consideration  by  the  States  of 
the  adoption  of  some  system  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  like  that,, 
for  instance,  in  use  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.    That 
system  might  be  reenforced  by-additional  provisions  giving  the  board 
of  arbitration  more  power  to  investigate  all  strikes,  whether  requested 
so  to  do  or  not.  and  the  question  might  be  considered  as  to  giving  labor 
organizations  a  standing  before  the  law,  as  heretofore  suggested  for 
national  trade  unions. 

(2)  Contracts  requiring  men  to  agree  not  to  join  labor  organizations 
or  to  leave  them,  as  conditions  of  employment,  should  be  made  illegal, 
as  is  already  done  in  some  of  our  States. 

III. 

(1)  The  commission  urges  employers  to  recognize  labor  organiza- 
tions; that  such  organizations  be  dealt  with  through  representatives, 
with  special  reference  to  conciliation  and  arbitration  when  difficulties 
are  threatened  or  arise.    It  is  satisfied  that  employers  should  come  in 
closer  touch  with  labor  and  should  recognize  that,  while  the  interests 
of  labor  and  capital  are  not  identical,  they  are  reciprocal. 

(2)  The  commission  is  satisfied  that  if  employers  everywhere  will 
endeavor  to  act  in  concert  with  labor;  that  if  when  wages  can  be 
raised  under  economic  conditions  they  be  raised  voluntarily,  and  that 
if  when  there  are  reductions  reasons  be  given  for  the  reduction,  much 
friction  can  be  avoided.    It  is  also  satisfied  that  if  employers  will  con- 
sider employees  as  thoroughly  essential  to  industrial  success  as  capital, 
and  thus  take  labor  into  consultation  at  proper  times,  much  of  the 
severity  of  strikes  can  be  tempered  and  their  number  reduced. 


I 


